Surviving the Dawn
by Stinkylicious
Summary: 5 survivors are trapped inside a local movie theater, trying to figure out how to escape their impending deaths.
1. Surviving the Dawn

Author's note: I apologize to everyone for keeping you waiting for so long. The past year has been pretty hectic, and I haven't had much of chance to keep up with the story. Now I found myself with lots of time. Chapters 22 and 23 are finished and waiting to be posted, while the final chapter is currently in the works. The first 21 chapters were done on a computer without spellcheck, so I'm going to go back and fix them all beore I put 22 and 23 up. I will also make revisions to these chapters once the stroy is complete. I want to thank everyone for the comments they have left for me. It's definately given me inspiration to write more knowing that people actually like what I do.

Surviving the Dawn

Chapter 1

I looked across the ocean of swaying, brainless bodies gathered outside my new "residence". I don't know what happened here. None of us know the answer to questions beginning with 'Why'. All we know is that these zombie creatures were trying to kill us. We don't know if they wanted to kill or if they needed to kill, and we frankly could care less. So far what we knew was that if you were bit, then slowly you would be turned into one of them. We also know that only a bullet to the head would stop them.

I turned to see the other survivors doing whatever they could to pass the time. The closest one to me was Travis. He seemed to be the leader of us, for he seemed to know best what was going on. He was sitting with his legs hanging off the top of the building and staring at the horizon. He wasn't speaking or blinking. You could just tell that he was trying to form a plan to get out of here...or he was thinking about his family.

Pacing back and forth nearby was a girl named Kate. She kept repeating something quietly over and over, but I couldn't quite hear her. She had an angry glare on her face and was walking quickly while kicking the rooftop gravel all around.

My eyes continued to wander and they found a second man. His name was Joshua. We called him JJ though because of his initials, but also because their was a large "JJ" tattooed on his back. He had a large gash on the side of his head that was bleeding into his shirt. He was checking the weapons lying around him, but never spoke. All the guns we managed to gather before being trapped in here was under careful inspection by JJ.

The last survivor with us was a small, quiet girl named Amanda. She didn't talk a whole lot, but she laughed every once in awhile. It was always one of those nervous laughs, but it still managed to break the tension. She was the only thing that reminded us we were still human: Emotions. Those creatures on the ground were brainless and emotionless. Amanda kept to herself mostly, but she was always nearby for fear of being alone.

My name is Mike. I'm just another one of the lucky few that managed to arrive here. I use the term 'lucky' very loosely. Sure I'm still human, but it's as if I'm some kind of monkey trapped behind the bars in a zoo. All these zombies are the tourists watching me, the trapped little monkey in the theater. I suppose I should talk out our living quarters. The five of us were trapped inside a movie theater. It was one of those larger theaters with 15 screens. We wandered the building aimless for a long time to get our mind off the moaning and groaning of those waiting to feast upon us. At least one form of entertainment we had was film. We never got anything new, but we never watched all of the movies in one day. We would go insane if we had to watch the same thing over and over. There was also a little television that only got channels with news broadcasting. Often times we would watch this to see what was happening outside of our home.

As of now the stations were all off air, but they come on every once in awhile. This is how we learned everything, no matter how little it may be, about these creatures. They didn't want food per say, they wanted human meat. We, on the other hand, wanted meat. Our only food was popcorn, candy, and soda. If we wanted water then we'd have to get it from one of the bathroom sinks. It sounds like every child's dream, but it was taking a toll. We could not bathe or shower. We didn't have any spare clothes. The smell was beginning to build, but we were also getting used to it.

Kate and JJ seemed to form a very close relationship. Whenever we were lounging around, she would always be hanging off of him, and it wasn't uncommon to find it hard to locate them. Travis seemed to be more focused on survival than on relationships, but I often times caught him watching Kate wherever she went. Not in a stalker type of way. When he watched her, it was as if he admired her. Amanda and I both had a little thing for each other, but it wasn't a huge thing. I'd hold her whenever she was scared, and she always kept me company. Kate and JJ's relationship was more sexual than sensual. I suppose it was the only thing we could do while being trapped here.

Our ammunition supply was very high. We had two guns for each of us, and enough ammo to fight a small army. We never used any out of rage, for we knew how important it was to spare. We had no plans for escaping because we weren't too sure if there was anyone else alive besides ourselves if the news wasn't broadcasting. I looked back to JJ as he checked and cleaned the last weapon. He put it back together, and set it with the others.

After brushing himself off he smiled and motioned at Kate. She moved towards him and sat on his lap. I looked over to Travis who knew where Kate went even if he didn't see her. He shook his head and looking down into the mob of zombies at the doors. I didn't know if he was thinking of jumping, but I put a hand on his shoulder just in case. I looked across the roof to see Amanda throwing rocks and the zombies and laughing. She smiled at me before walking to me and giving me a large hug. She held on to my waist as I watched JJ and Kate head inside the building. I started to head inside with Amanda still attached to me. I called towards Travis and he gave some notion to me so I headed inside with Amanda.

"We're stuck here," said Travis aloud to himself. "We're stuck here forever..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So what are we going to do?" asked JJ after sitting down with Kate. We were back on the roof just like the day before. Everyone looked back and forth to each other, but nobody came up with anything. We all looked very sullenly. It has been harder to sleep lately. Each day that passes, the crowd of zombies grows even more, and their sound gets louder.

"I've got a better question," started Kate. "Where the hell did these things come from? I mean I know none of us know, but we can try to figure it out."

"The Bible." said Amanda quietly. Everyone looked at her and she blushed a little bit. "In the Bible it says that the dead shall be raised at the Apocalypse. Maybe that's what's happening?"

"Its possible." responded Travis. "I never believed it till now...but she might be on to something. I don't think that it's the Apocalypse though. I do think it may be sort of biblical."

I stood up and walked to the edge of the building. "Maybe you're not too far off. There was an Apocalypse in the Bible, but God saved a few people." Now it was my turn to be stared at. I pointed out towards the zombies. "What does that look like to you?" Everyone stared for a moment, but said nothing.

"It's just a big sea of brainless bodies." said Kate.

"Exactly! Sea! The flood. Noah's ark. Does this seem familiar to anyone?" I saw Amanda perk up, and Travis looked more alert as well. "Theses zombies came like a flood, and so far we're the ones being spared. The flood came to erase all the sin in the world...and we all know how much of that there is. This movie theater is like our ark. Does anyone know how long the journey was? I don't." Nobody knew. They all looked around very confused at this one. I slumped down next to Amanda and put my head into my hands. She rested her head on my shoulder, but finally someone spoke up.

"Forty days? They used that a lot in the Bible, right?" asked JJ.

"I don't know...maybe." I said with a sigh. "So then we wait. Forty days. It's already been five, so only five more weeks then." Everyone nodded. I didn't know if we could hold out for 35 days, but it was the best idea that anyone could come up with.

Travis stood up and walked to the edge of the building. He noticed that the crowd spread as far as the highway. Everyone turned to see. The highway was over 200 yards away. He wasn't lying. Not a single space of earth was visible within the flood all the way to the highway. We looked at each side of the building and they stretched out just as far in every direction. You couldn't see any road or grass. Once in awhile you could spot a car in the middle of the crowd. Buildings were scattered around as well. The sight was eerie. Nobody should ever have to see anything like that.

I put an arm around Amanda and held her tightly. She buried her face into my chest. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what it was like to be back home. For some reason I couldn't. I couldn't picture my house or my family. The only thing I could remember was running from these things. I leaned my head a little in confusion.

"Amanda...how did you end up here?" I asked quietly into her ear.

She clutched my back a little bit and hesitated before answering. "Well I remember waking up in the morning to screaming. My eyes opened to see my mother bleeding from the neck. I could see little teeth marks there, and I was so confused. I got up and dressed quickly as she guarded the door. I could see the color drain from her face. She was shouting at me to go out through the window. She never said why, but I climbed out, and as soon as I had done so then she turned into one of them. I ran as fast as I could away from there. I saw lots of people running. I wasn't to sure where everyone was going or running from. At that time I wasn't too sure of lots of things. That's when I saw JJ, Kate, and Travis hauling it down the street in some car. I called for them to stop, and they did...eventually. I climbed in, crying and wondering what was happening. We rode on for awhile, and I was the one who spotted you. I guess you know the rest from there..."

I nodded and held her a little tighter. Had she not gone out through the window, we may have never met, and we both might have been one of those brainless types out there. Travis got angry about something and stormed inside. I looked around and saw that JJ and Kate had started getting romantic with each other. She was sitting in his lap and they kissed passionately. I looked back out to the flood to hear the waves make their sounds. Travis came back up a few seconds later carrying one of the theater chairs. I could see that he tore it right from the ground in his anger. He thankfully walked right past JJ and Kate, and he headed for the edge of the building. Everyone watched as he took the seat and heaved it straight down at the zombies crowding the entrance. We heard the snap of a neck as the chair landed on one's head. Amanda flinched a little at the sound, but the only sound afterwards was that of Travis and his heavy breathing.

I let go of Amanda and moved towards the edge. I looked straight down to see the damage that was caused. I now saw how emotionless these things really were. They didn't care or make any notion to the fact that one of their own was just "remurdered". There was a new one standing in the dead one's place already. In fact it was standing on top of the fallen zombie. I returned to y place in Amanda's grasp and we headed inside. The sun was slowly falling into the flood. JJ and Kate followed us shortly, and once again Travis stayed on the roof a little bit longer than the rest of us.

"That's one down! How many more of you fuckers are left?" he screamed out into the dusk.

Inside the theater I headed for the little television. I flicked it on, hoping for anything. To my surprise there was an anchorman sitting in front of the screen and sweating up a storm.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began. "If any of you are left alive, please hear this." I called out to the others. We found some wires that hooked the TV up to a projector so I set it up. The newscaster was now enormous as he was shown against the screen. "Here at WPKN we fear that time is running out. Millions have died, and we are soon to be next. I am broadcasting this message to say that there is nobody else alive. We've called all over, but at no avail. We do not know whether or not anyone will receive this message. There is no help coming. If you are trapped indoors, please ration your food out to last as long as possible. If you have any weapons I'd advise you to spare the bullets, and if worse comes to worse then use the weapons upon yourself. Turning into one of these...creatures may mean the death of another survivor if there are any left. Good luck to all who hear this. This will be the last update we at the WPKN studio will air unless things start to clear up..." The screen went to static. The five of us stood in complete silence just staring at the screen. The sound of the static was surrounding us like the great flood outside, but none of us moved. I eventually clicked off the little television and the huge projected image disappeared.

I collapsed into a couch nearby and put a hand to cover my eyes. I shook my head slightly, replaying what we just saw. I felt a body lie near me, and I saw that it was Amanda. She was crying slightly. She got as close to me as she could, and I just held her near. It was all I could do. No words could comfort her. We stayed that way until we both fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I awoke the next day to find Amanda still in my arms. I smiled as best I could with the memories of last night's newscast not yet setting in. She was sleeping silently and peacefully right next to me. I kissed her gently on the forehead to awaken her. She stretched a little bit and opened her eyes. He blinked trying to gain her vision, and once she saw me still with her she smiled as she pushed her head into my chest. I heard a muffled greeting come from her and I answered back. I was in a state of pure bliss before reality set in.

"This is fucking stupid! Why is this shit happening to us?" yelled out JJ as he burst into the room. Kate followed him closely and soon Travis entered as well. I sat up and held Amanda close to me. She sighed and I knew what she meant. JJ was pissed off.

"What is it, now?" I asked him.

"It's these things! I just don't get it...I hate anything I don't understand." he responded angrily.

Kate decided to sit down next to me where there was room. Travis and JJ discussed zombie matters, and she just sighed deeply and looked around. I turned to her. "How did you get here?" I asked.

She looked at the floor for a long time before answering. "Well...it starts out almost the same as everyone else. I woke up to the sound of my alarm and thought it was just a normal day. I was getting ready to go out when I heard this banging on my window. I opened the curtains wide and I saw a whole row of zombies with their faces pressed against the glass. They caught glimpse of me, and I guess that just set them off. I backed away in fear, but hey...who wouldn't?" She tried to laugh, but I could tell how forced it was. "They hit harder on the window and broke it in. I dashed from my room and out of the house to my car. I started it up, and sped off as fast as I could. I remember hitting something when I backed out of my driveway. I'm not sure if it was a zombie or a human. I didn't care. That's when I went around picking up the rest of you guys...you know it from there I suppose."

I didn't know the story from there, but I could tell from the look in her eyes that she didn't to talk about it. JJ was listening in and he bragged about his story. "I had been up the whole night partying. For some reason I didn't have any drinks, and I'm glad as hell that I didn't. As soon as dawn hit, one of these things showed up at the party. The guys were too drunk to think it was dangerous so they started to play with it. Eventually it attacked one of them. It bit him right in the throat. I ran inside and busted through the glass of the case holding the shotguns. I snagged one and loaded seven shells into it. I ran back outside to see that the monster had already bitten anther of my friends, and everyone else had run for their lives. It turned on me. It moved slowly, and as soon as it's chest was right up against the barrel of the shotgun, I pulled the trigger. It went flying backwards, but got up quickly and came at me again. I ran right up to it, and as it opened it's mouth to sink it's teeth into me, I put the barrel right in it's mouth and pulled the trigger. The head blasted into many pieces, and some of it was dangling from my weapon. After going inside and hanging two more shotguns around my body as well as grabbing two pistols, I ran out into the street. That's when I saw the carnage...thank God Kate here was on the road. She stopped and picked me up."

After his speech we all looked to Travis. He was looking out the window. "I killed one as soon as I woke up. My eyes opened to see one of them standing above me and looking around. When it saw me move, it grabbed my throat. I pulled a .44 magnum out from under my pillow, which I always sleep with, and put it to his forehead. Funny thing is, as I pushed it to his skull, the gun sank in a little bit. Their bodies are so weak. Anyways I pulled the trigger and... Well you can guess what that looked like. I rolled out of bed quickly, and I saw another at my bedroom door. I put one into his head as well. I didn't even think of shooting them in the chest when I saw that one bullet to the head was sufficient. I had heard much about zombies in the past, and I also read a few books about them. I don't know what it was, but these creatures have always fascinated me. I never believe that I would be fighting them. As I walked out into the hall, I noticed two more. One was bending over the lifeless body of my sister and strands stretched from his mouth to her neck. I fired once at it, and his skull splattered all over. The second one still came for me, and I pulled the trigger, but the gun wouldn't fire." As he said this, he made the motion of firing an invisible gun in his hands. "I noticed that the gun wasn't fully loaded. I didn't have enough time to reload, so I just swung the pistol as hard as I could. It hit the zombie in the side of the head, and it fell to one knee. I swung downwards and felt it's skull cave in as the pistol crushed in. I took this time to reload the weapon from a box of ammo I had hiding on a nearby shelf. After loading up I had to shoot my sister in the head." Everyone looked awkwardly at him. "I had to do it. She would have turned into one of them. Anyways...I managed to escape my house after grabbing a few of the other weapons I had hidden around my house. I ran out into the street and had to roll out of the way as I was almost hit by Kate and JJ."

Again the room fell silent. I was looking at the floor, knowing I'd have to tell my tale next. I looked up, and I was right. All eyes were on me. I sighed and put my hands together. "I was out in the woods hunting. I hadn't seen anything all day, until I thought I saw some sort of deer. I fired and heard it fall. When I went to check on it, I realized it was no animal at all. It was one of those zombies. I didn't know it at first. I thought I killed a fellow hunter, but a large group of these things came after me. I had a machete with me, and I knew it would take too long to reload the bolt action rifle over and over. I picked it up, slung the rifle around my back, and got into a defensive stance. I don't remember everything really. I just remember telling myself to just keep swinging. After I stopped hearing footsteps chasing after me, I saw tops of skulls and limbs covering the ground around me. I ran for the nearest exit of the woods, and I saw so many more of these things along the way. I stumbled out onto someone's backyard, and I remember that their backdoor was covered in blood. I carried the blade still in attack position. I remember one coming and grabbing me from behind. I spun quickly and the rifle knocked him back a little bit. I slashed at the thing and cut it into two, right through the torso. The bottom half would not move any longer, but the top half still crawled after me. I left it there, and I just decided to run out into the open. I didn't know there were so many. Several cars were piled up on the streets. They were covered in blood. I didn't know whether or not it was human blood or not. Most of all I could see the body of my mother not too far away from where I was standing." I felt Amanda run her hand into mine and lock fingers with me to show her sympathy. "I saw other families run from their homes, only to either be struck by swerving cars or caught by the zombies that were in pursuit. The one thing I did notice was that nobody was fighting back. I didn't understand it. Anyways I saw you guys, but you didn't seem to notice me. I don't blame you because I bet I looked like one of those things with my blood-covered shirt. I swung my blade like a madman trying to get your attention, and finally you stopped."

We all thought back to how we got here after we all joined together as we moved to the roof. Kate drove as fast as she could towards a nearby hunting store. We all had to jump out and bust down the doors. We filled bags full of ammunition and handguns. Travis managed to grab an assault rifle from the wall, and I grabbed a sturdier machete than the one I used to be carrying. I also grabbed a combat knife.

We had only been in there for a few moments, but when we turned to exit there was a group of zombies at the door: Three of them to be exact. JJ picked up my old machete and threw it at them. It lodged into the chest of the nearest one. I quickly kicked the handle of the blade into the zombie, and it knocked him backwards. I took one standing next to him and shoved him away. He grabbed my arm, but I swung my combat knife and cut of its hand. I then slashed its throat and impaled the zombie in the head. It made some strange gurgling noise before falling dead. When I turned around I saw that JJ had taken the zombie with the machete in its chest, and stuck him to a wall with the blade. Travis went straight up to the last with an ax that he found. He quickly sliced the leg off to make it fall over, and then he smashed the face in with the blunt end of the weapon. JJ was still toying with the one he was fighting. Kate eventually got sick of waiting. She walked up to the creature and put the barrel of her pistol right to its eye. It fell limp against the wall when she pulled the trigger, and it slumped to the floor after JJ pulled the machete out of it's chest. He decided to leave the weapon behind.

Amanda was waving at us from the car to hurry up. The car was about to be overrun by the undead. We shot several of them off of the vehicle before diving in. I got into the back with Amanda and she immediately threw her arms around me in fear. I thought my head was going to pop off. Kate hit the accelerator hard and used the bumper to its full extent. Eventually she got onto smooth roads, but we still didn't know where we were going to go.

Travis told her to stay away from any police or emergency building because they were probably going to be crowded as hell. We all had the assumption that we would be defending ourselves for a very long time. JJ said we need a place with food and entertainment. Kate suggested the mall, and nobody had any objections to that. Of course the task was easier said than done. As soon as we got onto the street headed towards the mall, we were faced with a large mob of zombies that blocked the entire street. Kate swore loudly, as she was very prone to do, and pulled a quick 180. We drove only a tiny bit when we were once again blocked by another large crowd. She turned onto a nearby street, and right ahead of us was our new home to be. The theater hung over all the smaller buildings around it like a godsend.

When we reached the building it was completely deserted, but all the doors were locked. The theater was located in a bad neighborhood so they had bulletproof glass installed. Kate got into her car and rammed through a set of doors quickly. We needed to block the whole quickly, and I saw a large display stand for an upcoming movie in the corner. It was so heavy that it took all five of us to move the thing, and once we got it into place we move the car right up against it to block it further.

Since then we've wandered the building, trying to find every nook and cranny or possible fallback locations. The roof was by far everyone's favorite location. There was endless fresh air, and sunshine was never blocked by any other building. The only drawback of course was the constant drone of the walking dead. I always thought that you'd learn to ignore it, but every time you opened the doors to the roof, the sound gave you chills all over.

As Travis, JJ, and Kate sat at one edge of the rooftop, I went to the opposite end and sat leaning against the ledge. I put my head into my hands and continued to try to think back to before all of this happened. Amanda came and sat right next to me. I grabbed her up in my arms and brought her to my lap. I just wanted to hold her near to me. The feeling I had whenever she was in my arms was indescribable. It was the best feeling in the world, yet at the same time it was the worst. With her I felt as if I was actually needed in this world, but she also made me think about the future, and what little left of it we may have.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When I awoke the next day I must have been the last one up. I heard a movie playing loudly in one of the theaters. From the sound of it, I knew it was some romance movie. It was my day to patrol the building so I checked out the roof first. Travis was up there sitting with his legs hanging over the edge again. He seemed to be in some sort of trance. I decided to leave him alone. On the way to see who was watching the film, I heard a noise come from a different room. I drew a handgun that I was carrying and crept quietly to the door. Slowly I opened it, but when I peered inside I spotted JJ's and Kate's clothes lying on the floor near the door. I closed the door slowly and resumed my patrol. I got to the theater with the movie playing, and I went up to the top row silently. I was looking around, and I saw Amanda sitting right in the middle. I made my way down to her, and when I sat next to her and lifted the arm rest, she put her arms around me tightly. I could tell that she was crying a little bit.

"What's wrong?" I asked after moving some hair that was covering her face.

She sniffed before speaking. "Why couldn't I have met you before this all happened?" She then kissed me lightly before resting her head on my chest. I closed my eyes and held her close to me. The sound of the movie reached my ears.

"Mary!" said a male voice. "Mary, listen. I'm going to marry you. I'll come back from this war and marry you. We'll grow old together and have kids. I love you, Mary." They had a big sloppy kiss onscreen accompanied by a change in the music. That's what I figured out was upsetting Amanda. I suppose we all had the same problem, but she realized it first. We weren't going to get out of that theater. Amanda had hopes of growing old, just like the movie said. All she wanted was to be loved. What scared me most is that I might have been the last one here to realize that.

Up to that point in time since we'd been stuck in the godforsaken theater, I've come to question many things. First and foremost was the American Dream. This dream was to hold a successful career with a loving wife, two beautiful and brilliant children, and own a large home, or to go off to war and return to your hometown as a hero. None of these dreams seemed possible in our current situation. We were living the American Dream now. The new American Dream. This dream was to live.

The next biggest thing was the theater itself. Was it a torture chamber or a godsend? How can the same place in which my death will be held would be the same place where I met the love of my life? The flood outside the doors was trying to kill me and they filled me with a burning rage. I also felt another warm though: The warmth that filled me whenever this girl was near.

It was topics like this that which distracted me from the film. I saw the movie, but I wasn't watching it. My mind focused on other things. The vanished hopes and dreams that would never be. The feeling of this amazing person with her body against mine, and the feelings I was gaining for her. My family, my friends, my future: All these things were gone or would be in the near future. As these feelings piled up, a new thought arose. I always used to believe I was heartless. I never felt a spec of remorse when I heard of someone's death. Even after running out into the open the day I was brought here and seeing all those bodies, as well as my mother's, lying in the streets didn't make me feel sorry. It made me feel defensive. My whole life has been about instinct, and I've never stopped to think about the ways I've affected others. This all changed the day I met Amanda. She found my heart and made me care about all these people.

I smiled to myself, and that's when I noticed that the move was over. I had been daydreaming so long that even the credits had passed. I knew I had to get up and continue my patrol, but Amanda had fallen asleep and I did not want to disturb her. I watched her sleep peacefully. Eventually I kissed her on the cheek and moved her slightly so I wouldn't wake her. She managed to sleep right on the theater chairs without rising. I reluctantly left the room and went back on patrol.

I was still walking around pretty aimlessly when I heard a cracking noise. I rushed to the front doors as quickly as I could. The zombies were putting such pressure against the doors and windows that the glass began to crack. This glass was bullet proof glass, and it looked like they were walking straight through it. They had cracked one of the windows pretty badly, but it was still holding them. I could see a bloodstain on the glass, and I noticed a zombie with a crushed head lying on the floor.

I quickly rushed up to the roof where Travis was now looking down at the front entrance. He saw them crack the glass. I looked down, but then quickly looked up to see that the flood was growing heavily. In two days the number of zombies seems to have tripled in size. I shook my head as Travis began to speak.

"They're crushing themselves! The damned things are crushing themselves..." he said in disbelief. He then saw that I was looking out at how many zombies were out there. "Yah. I've been watching them for a long time now and I've noticed that they have been coming in all directions. I've sat on every edge of this roof and seen the flood spread. I don't know where they're coming from, but they won't stop coming. I tried to count them once. I gave up after counting somewhere around six hundred."

I walked to the edge and looked out as far as I could. "Is that all you do up here? Count zombies?"

"No..." he said while joining me at the edge. "I observe them and study them. I also try to look at their clothes and try to tell who they were. See...they're not standing in any type of specific order. Business suits are scattered. Black, whites, Hispanics," he said while pointing all over the sea. "Race doesn't matter to them. They don't even feel humility. Look." He pointed out and told me to look right under the nearest tree. My eyes searched a little bit, but finally I saw a zombie in a clown suit. I laughed loudly and stepped back.

"It's like a living 'Where's Waldo?' book for you, I take it?" I said to him.

"Yah...but I also made another similarity..." he began. "Like you said with Noah's Ark and the flood. To me this seems more like a real story. You've heard of the Alamo? I think this is more like that with the zombies being the Mexican forces and ourselves being the Texans."

I nodded slowly. "But didn't the Texans lose at the Alamo?"

"Yes," he responded. "But do you actually expect to make it out of here alive?"

He was right. My story did put a happy face onto a sour situation. His gave the truth. I shook my head and he looked back out to the flood. "We can still hope." I said back to him. "Maybe there is hope for us yet. We still don't know who's out there."

"I suppose you're right." He answered. "We'll just have to wait and see..."

I looked out across to the very edge of the flood and said quietly to myself, "33 more days..."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I awoke the next morning, and right away I was disheartened to remember that it was Amanda's day to patrol. I decided that I should get to know the other people a little better. I knew Travis and Amanda rather well, but Kate and JJ were still like a mystery to me. I walked around trying to find either one of them, but it took me awhile. I passed Amanda on her patrol, and she gave me a good morning kiss. I spotted Travis coming out of the bathroom so I asked him. I could see his face scrunch with rage a little bit, which told me where they were. I immediately headed up to the roof, but on my way up I saw JJ storm down. He didn't speak or even look at me.

I stuck my head out onto the roof and saw Kate sitting on the edge and trying to hold back tears. I went and sat next to her.

"Asshole..." she said abruptly.

"What?"

"Oh...sorry, Mike. Not you." she said quickly. "That Josh...asshole. We were up here just sitting together and it was nice being all cuddling up. I told him I loved him...and he didn't say anything back. When I said it again he just tried to make a move on me. I got really mad and called him a...douche bag I think it was. Sometimes I think all he wants from me is sex. Don't get me wrong, the sex is great, but I want something more."

I nodded. "There's a lot of that going around."

"Oh...you and Amanda are so cute together," she said. I blushed a little bit and she laughed while wiping away a tear. "Why did this have to happen to us? I've never really been all that bad of a person...or at least I thought I wasn't. I guess it's better to be up here though then down there as a brainless idiot." She picked up a rock and threw it straight down. It hit one zombie in the head and it made a loud moaning noise. She laughed a little bit. "Why couldn't we all meet like this without the possibility of death afterwards? It would have been great."

"I'm not quite sure everyone would agree with you on that one..." I responded. She looked at me rather funny. "Travis." She put her hands together and stared at them.

"I know what you mean." she said quietly. "I don't know about him. I know the kind of anguish I'm putting on him. I've seen the way he stares at me. I don't even feel weirded out by it...he adores me. I've never had this kind of attention before, and I love it. I know he'd never use me or hurt me like that...that Josh...but I love Josh. I just don't think it's mutual. I don't think the whole situation has caught up with him yet. I know Travis will be there for me though if something ever happens."

I shook my head, but she didn't see it. That's when I heard the rooftop door bang open. JJ came storming out in a rage. He was about to say something, but he slipped on the gravel. He stumbled sideways towards the edge of the building.

"Josh!" yelled Kate.

I jumped to my feet and ran for him. His knees hit the edge of the roof and the rest of his body went over the top. I reached out blindly and managed to grab his hand. Josh was dangling over a large crowd of zombies. I was looking straight down and I saw that the zombies had become in a denser crowd right under where JJ was hanging. He kept calling my name and telling me to pull him up, but he was too heavy for me alone. Kate ran up to my side and tried to grab JJ's other hand. He kept reaching up for her, but a pain was growing in his other arm that restrained him from lifting. I had a good grip on the guy, but I knew that wouldn't last long.

"Travis!" I called out loudly. "Travis help!"

The roof door was opened loudly again and Travis stared at us in disbelief. He ran over to the edge to see JJ hanging. I tightened my grip on his wrist, but just as I did I could feel his shoulder dislocated from its socket. JJ screamed out in pain as Travis managed to grab the same wrist and we pulled him up together. We all fell over back onto the roof and stayed there for a moment. I eventually stood first, and I saw JJ rolling around in pain. Travis helped me get him to his feet, and once I had control of JJ I led him down inside the building. Kate and Travis watched us go, and Kate turned to Travis slowly. "Thank you..." she said gratefully. She then looked around quickly before kissing him on the cheek. She then ran inside as Travis stood still in his spot. He was frozen in place alone on the roof.

I helped JJ into the manager's office and he slumped heavily into a chair. I saw an old shirt left behind lying under a couch. I grabbed it and tore it apart. Amanda came running in and saw JJ's shoulder. She gulped and told me to get out. I listened to her and she closed the door when I left. After a few moments of silence there was a loud popping noise followed by a muffled groan from JJ. I opened the door again to see Amanda wrapping his shoulder in one torn piece of the shirt, and JJ biting down on the other piece. She took the piece out of his mouth and tied it like a sling.

I sat down with JJ after he started breathing normally. Amanda came to stand at my side for a short while, but as soon as she heard what my and JJ were speaking about she hugged me and left the room. I looked JJ square in the eyes, but he would not hold the stare with me. He winced in pain every now and then, and she seemed to be more focused on getting comfortable. When i asked him what happened, he wouldn't answer right away. He just shook his head and looked at the floor.

"Come on!" I demanded. "You're not really in a position to hold grudges with people here."

He eventually looked up. "You know...you're all taking this thing way too seriously. We're safe. We're holed in here and the zombies, or whatever the fuck they are, are stuck out there."

"We'll get back to that later. Right now I'm talking about Kate."

"That bitch..."

"Hey! Why don't you just tell me what happened." I snapped back.

He coughed and squinted as he changed his position again. "I'm not ready. I don't think I love her yet. Up there on the roof...I just can't tell things with her. Sometimes it seems like all she wants to do is screw, and I'm not complaining there. But sometimes it seems that she's obsessed with me like she wants to get married." His eyes turned into an angry glare as he looked into his palm. "And sometimes...that Travis character...I don't know what the deal with him is." I stood up to walk out on him, but before I reached the door he began to speak. "You know...I see how you guys act about these zombies. I don't know if I think you're crazy or if I'm jealous about it. When my friend, Cody, was bitten at the party, I wanted to run just like everyone else. I couldn't. My father raised me to never be a coward, so I ran inside to help my friends. After I killed that first zombie I began to think of my friends as cowards for running. I don't quite know why. I watched Cody sprawled on the floor with the blood flowing from his neck and his eyes glazed over. I heard before that if you take a bite from one of them then you'll turn into one of them. I put the shotgun to his forehead and looked away. I felt the warmth of his blood splatter on me, but I never remember pulling the trigger. I walked away without looking back. "I was still at the doorway looking out. I drummed my fingers on the doorway before speaking lowly. "I feel your pain. I wasn't alone when I was hunting." With that I walked out of the room. I walked right into the nearest theater and sat down in a random chair. I put my head into my hands and closed my eyes tight. My mind wandered back to when I was in the woods fighting for my life. I was out there hunting with my father when the first one came up. He was bitten after trying to help the thing, and I fired on it. I killed it. He tried walking away, but another came out of nowhere and bit him again. He was in the way and I couldn't fire. Another came and latched on to him as well. I still couldn't fire. I knew I couldn't help him so that's when I turned and ran.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I slapped it away quickly being in the state of mind that I was in. I looked up and saw Amanda holding her hand and making a face. I apologized as I took her back and held onto it. I kissed her hand and apologized again, but she put her arms around me and just told me to forget it. She stayed there for a long time just making me let her know that she was needed. I stood up and she kept her arms around me. I laughed and told her that I would be back. She lifted up a few of the arm rests and laid herself down. I walked out and headed for the roof.

I opened the door slowly to see Travis in his usual spot. He had a hand over the spot where Kate had kissed him, and he carried a large smile. I noticed that the sun was already almost gone. I didn't want to bring down his mood, so I slowly closed the door and headed back down. Kate was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I told her I talked to JJ, and she said that she was going to as well. She headed for the office and slowly closed the door. I smiled and walked back to the theater where Amanda was waiting. When I went to find her, I saw that she had fallen asleep. I couldn't help but smile as I sat down next to her and watched her sleep like an angel. I brushed the hair from her face and laid down right along side her without waking her. I put an arm over her and she scooted closer into me. I smiled even larger and kissed her gently on the forehead. The last thing I remember before going to sleep was what it would have been like if we had still met outside of this place.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I awoke the next day by some sort of twitch from Amanda. My eyes shot open, but she was still asleep in my arms. Every once in awhile she would twitch while she slept. She began talking lowly, but I eventually heard that she was saying 'No' repeatedly. The louder she talked, the more frequently she shook. I tried waking her up, and eventually she did. Her eyes opened quickly and she screamed. She shoved me away from her, and I fell off the theater chairs. I hit the floor with a loud thud. I was on the floor looking straight up when Amanda's head popped out from behind one of the seats. She stared at me with wide eyes, but then she came down from the seat and lied on top of me.

"I'm sorry!" she said quickly.

I looked up at her and said lowly, "Ow..."

She laughed and apologized again. Then she kissed me. This wasn't just a quick peck. She kissed me deeply and passionately. I knew she didn't want to let me go, and I knew something was bothering her.

"What happened?" I asked after she broke the kiss.

She rested her head on my chest as she spoke. "I had a dream. It was just awful. In the dream it was only Travis, JJ, Kate, and I stuck here. I didn't even know you existed. The other three were still in their little love triangle thing. I was alone. I was all alone. One day we were all watching a movie when we heard the glass break at the front doors. We all got up to see what happened, and the zombies had gotten in. We all rushed for the roof, but Kate got captured by one and it bit her. The three of us made it to the roof and we loaded up all the weapons. We stood for a long time with our weapons pointed at the door. Eventually th door burst open and we all fired. I don't know how many of them we actually took out, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. They just kept coming, and they flooded the roof. We backed up and just kept on firing in every direction. I could see the front doors still letting in the zombies. I could see that they spread out for what had to be two miles in every direction, maybe more. I called out your name even though I know you weren't there. Travis ran out of ammo first. He went for your machete, but he was shoved by one zombie. He fell off the roof and into the crowd below. JJ was next. He had two bullets left. He spotted Kate as a zombie so he put one bullet into her...I'm not sure why, but after her he put the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger. All the zombies turned on me. I couldn't kill myself so I just let them take me. You were one of them. You were the first zombie to grab me and bite me."

I put my arms around her and tried to stand. She pushed me back to the floor and stayed on top of me. "Amanda..." I started. "You know it was just a dream..."

"I know," she replied. "But I just...I want you to stay here with me. I don't want to feel alone. It was so horrible seeing you that way. Now that I have you here...like this...I never want to let you go." With that she kissed me even longer than she had before.

When she stopped I spoke again. "I'm not going to leave you. I'm never going to hurt you. I promise you that. I care for you too much to let anything bad happen to you." She smiled and gave me a big hug before finally letting me get up.

"Mike..." she said quietly. I looked her in the eyes and smiled, then took her hand into mine. She blushed a little bit and smiled. She tried to speak, but she kept stammering. "I...I want to say something...but I'm not sure." I knew what she was trying to say. A part of me was afraid to hear those words, but another part of me thought the same way towards her.

"It's okay..." I told her. I kissed her hand lightly. "You can tell me when you're ready." I really thought it was the best thing to say. If it was hard for her to say it, then maybe she just wasn't confident enough that it was mutual. I locked my fingers in with hers, and we headed for the roof.

This day Travis wasn't alone. He sat in his original place with his legs dangling over the edge. Next to him sat Kate. They were laughing, and Kate's hand rested lightly on top of Travis's. I smiled, then glanced over to see that Amanda noticed the same thing, and she also carried a smile. Both of our smiles were nothing compared to that of the one Travis held. Kate leaned forward and spat downwards. We heard it splatter against a zombie's head, and the two burst out laughing again. I was about to laugh with them, but then I noticed the size of the flood. It spread out all the way to the horizon. I didn't quite know how far away they actually spread. I figured that everyone had gone crazy and was in a state of hysteria with their hopes still holding strong for survival.

Travis noted my expression. "Hey, look behind you. You'll be pleasantly surprised." I turned to see just more zombies. I noticed there was a narrow path where no zombies stood, running in the distance. "It's a river," said Travis. I could see that there was a bridge that several zombies stood on that crossed the river. It was so crowded that one of them was actually shoved over the edge and into the water.

"So..." I started. "It looks like we're gonna need a boat?"

"Duhh," responded Kate. "But we're still hoping on your forty days theory. We don't want to go rushing out there when we could be saved." Travis nodded in agreement.

I looked over to Amanda who was staring at the river. A large smile spread across her face and she threw her arms around me. She was bouncing around and yelling for joy. I was a little disoriented at the surprise attack. She squeezed me tightly and eventually regained her composure. I looked over to Kate, who was now holding Travis's hand. He was staring into her eyes, and they seemed like they were somewhere else.

Suddenly I heard heavy footsteps climbing up to the roof. Travis and Kate didn't seem to notice, so I ran to the door and stopped JJ from seeing them. He looked at me with strained eyes, and his hair was all messy. "What's with all the fucking noise?" he asked angrily.

"Oh nothing...hey do you think you could help me with something real quick?" I thought up quickly. He sighed and agreed. On the way down the stairs he complained of having a slight headache, but was boasting that his shoulder felt terrific.

"100" he said to me.

"Great." I responded. "That means you can help me move a few more movie displays. It seems like we've got a hole on our Ark."

"The front doors?" he asked. "Yah we probably should reinforce that a little."

We looked around and found a large display that we could both move. We put it up against one window that wasn't cracked, and we did this to all the windows until we found a final display to cover the last window. When we put it into place, one of the zombie's faces appeared in a part of the window that was showing.

"Fuck you, Mr. Zombie," said JJ to the creature. He flipped off the zombie and it's head was eventually shoved out of the way by the others. His evil looking smile soon faded as he was looking up to the corner of the roof. His face turned a little bit pale and then went blood red. I moved in to look, and I could see Travis and Kate were kissing. I turned quickly and JJ was pacing around frantically, his face still red with rage. I tried calming him down, but he just brushed me off and continued to swear loudly. Eventually he stormed into the manager's office and slammed the door, followed shortly by a small locking sound. I sighed and looked back out the window. I could see that Kate and Travis had moved, and Amanda was once again throwing rocks. She spotted me and waved with a cheery smile on her face. I waved back with a light laugh, and another zombie's head popped up in the window space. I jumped back a little bit, but laughed when I noticed it was the zombie that Kate had spit on. I put my hand to the window and it tried biting, but it continued to hit it's head on the glass. Eventually I walked away.

I returned to the roof and Travis and Kate were at a different end of the roof. I told them that JJ saw them kissing, and they both fell dead silent. That's pretty much how the rest of the day was. Silent. As silent as could be, that is. I enjoyed even more the time alone I got to spend with Amanda, because I was able to escape the tension from the other three. The air was getting warmer, which was normal for the changing seasons. I would spend more time on the roof than normal, just lounging around with Amanda. It would be nice as long as JJ wasn't around Kate or Travis. Those two even began to see less of each other as well.

I was not in the theater alone when I fell asleep that night, nor was I any night from then on. I was just looking up at the ceiling, gathering my thoughts, and I fell asleep listening to the soothing sounds of Amanda's breathing while she rested on my chest.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

No day since then was ever the same. I was lying awake the next day with Amanda still asleep on top of me. My thoughts wandered about as I held her to me and listened to her peaceful breathing. She was my escape from reality. She made me forget everything that discouraged me, and she was my source of joy. Whenever she was not near me, I felt that all hope was lost. She shifted positions, but still remained asleep. I smiled, kissed her on the top of her head, and went back to my thoughts. I thought back to when Kate and Travis had kissed each other.

I replayed the event in my mind over and over: The zombie in the window, JJ's expression when he saw them, the happiness that exploded from Travis and Kate's eyes. I tried thinking about it from an outsider's point of view. I realized that it seemed like Kate was easy. I know she isn't. You'd have to put yourself i our position. You're trapped in a building with the last four people alive on earth. Your family and friends are all dead. The people you once held so dearly are now dead or worse, trying to kill you. You can't talk to anyone else, and you can't go outside apart from the roof. There's a very slim chance that you will live for a long time. I shook my head. JJ and Kate were just odd. With Travis, Kate is happy. With JJ, she is content. I thought she was better off with Travis, because JJ would end up hurting her somehow. I shook my head again at my lack of faith in the others, but I really wasn't in a place to expect something better.

"Mike?" whispered Amanda while she moved around a little bit and yawned a couple of times.

I looked down at her and smiled. "I'm here. Did you have another bad dream or something?"

"I'm cold." she said. I went to feel her hand, but as soon as I lifted my arm, she slid her hands up the back of my shirt. I shook a little as her icy fingers pressed against my flesh. She laughed as I twitched and made faces from the feeling. The longer she held them there, the more used to it I got until eventually my body heat began to warm her hands. She made some sort of purring noise as she put her head back onto my chest.

I heard the doors of the room we were in burst open and Travis ran in quickly. He saw us together and turned a little bit pale from seeing us how we were. Instead of pulling her hands out of my shirt, Amanda squeezed me tighter.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting, but we have a little bit of a problem." Travis blurted quickly. Amanda pouted and kissed me before letting me get up to find out what the situation was. Travis led the way quickly to the roof, but he wouldn't tell me what was happening. We passed Kate who was standing at the bottom of the staircase leading to the roof, and she was biting her nails nervously. She didn't say a word when she saw us.

I squinted as the sun hit my eyes on the roof. I heard swearing, and I eventually saw JJ walking along the edge of the roof back and forth. A glare of the sun's rays bounced from his hand into my eyes. I then saw that he was gripping a pistol tightly by his side, and he kept saying something quietly over and over. He noticed my presence, but he continued to pace back and forth quickly. I looked over to Travis.

"Two hours." was his answer. "For two hours."

I looked back up at JJ who seemed to gradually increase his speed. I moved closer to him, and he turned to face the zombie swarm before yelling out loudly.

"Fuckers! You zombie fuckers!" He spat out into the flood. "Cock sucker, mother fucker, ass-ramming pricks!"

I stopped moving and he turned to face Travis and me. He had a look in his eyes that I had never seen in a person before. I was a mixture of fear, anger, confusion, and clarity. He was breathing heavily, but he didn't seem to be looking at either Travis or myself. He was staring between us at nothing.

"What's left then?" he asked this nothingness. "These things have taken everything from me. My family. My friends. There's only one thing left that they can't take from me."

He placed the barrel of the gun under his chin and fired. I reached out and yelled out trying to stop him, but it was too late. The gun fell from his hands and bounced at his feet. It flew towards us and skidded to a halt between us. JJ stood up for a long while. I could see part of where the bullet made an exit wound at the top of his head. His eyes had already rolled into the back of his head. He eventually began to slowly fall backwards. Travis and I ran to him, but we couldn't catch him. It seemed to happen in slow motion. His body fell like a feather to the earth. Travis and I both lunged out to try and grab him, but we were too little too late. All we could do was stare at JJ's brainless body fall towards the flood. His body landed on top of a few of the zombies and crushed them. The others didn't even bother him. They just moved in to fill the empty gap and stood on the bodies. I never blinked through the whole event. I stayed there with my arm hanging off of the side of the building. Travis was the first to move away from the edge. I heard the door open, and the sound of heavy footsteps soon followed. I still hadn't moved when I heard the bloodcurdling screams come from Kate.

After a long while I managed to turn around and sit down with my back propped against the ledge where JJ used to be standing. I was staring at the handgun still laying in the gravel not to far from me. The rooftop door slowly opened and Amanda slowly walked out. She sniffled lightly as she walked over to me. She didn't bother to look over the edge at all. I just parted my arms and legs for her as she curled up into a ball at my chest. When I had locked my arms around her, the tears began to shed. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't do anything. There were only four of us left now. Nothing could change that statistic. She cried in my arms until the sun went down. I didn't eat anything that day. I don't think anyone did.

I moved back down to the same place where I had woken up. By then Amanda had cried all she could. We had not spoken a word because we didn't need to. I plopped down onto the seat heavily and stretched myself out. Amanda crawled softly on top of me. She kissed me deeply and slid her hands back up my shirt again. She squeezed to me as tightly as she could as she continued to kiss me.

After a long time, Amanda eventually rested her head on my shoulder and fell asleep soundly. For some reason sleep did not evade me that night. I managed to pass on into the dream world as soon as my eyes closed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I was alone when I woke up the next day. Amanda wasn't with me so I figured I was the first one awake. I headed straight for the roof to catch some fresh air. I yawned and stretched before looking around. Travis was the only one here so I headed towards him. On the way I noticed the gun than remained in the same place as it was the night before. I snatched it up from the ground and took it to place it with the others. I made my way back towards Travis, who was dropping rocks into the flood below.

"We're going to soon be joined by the unpleasant smell of death," He stated as I sat down next to him.

"You mean more so then there already is?" I asked. It was true. There was a smell of death in the air for a long time. It was not the stench of decayed bodies, because as we could plainly see, these walking dead were not rotting away as dead bodies should. I could barely see JJ's body underneath the moving sea. I noticed that the blood that spilled from JJ's skull had stained the feet of those zombies that wandered aimlessly about his dead body.

"That's the reality though, right?" he asked while grabbing another handful of rocks.

"Which part?" I responded.

"Him..." he said motioning to JJ. "That's the ultimate finish in the game of life. We're all going to die whether it be in this hell hole or another."

I interrupted him with a though. "Where do expect that river leads to?"

He thought for a moment. "The ocean I suppose."

"So what do you suppose we do once we get to the ocean?"

"Hell, I don't know...we can't land anywhere. That guy on the TV said everyone's dead."

"Or worse..." I added.

"Yes, or worse. I guess we'll just have to go with the flow...no pun intended." He said with a smile. I laughed a little and picked up a handful of rocks for myself to start dropping them on the zombies.

"Do you think anyone else is stuck in our situation?"

"It's likely..." he began. "I don't know about anyone around here, but the world is a big place."

I nodded and stood back up after dropping what stones I had left. As I headed for the doors I decided to check on Kate. I found her at the entrance of the theater staring out the little open space at the zombies. Her hands were at her side and she never moved. I asked if she was okay, but she quietly told me to go away. I did so, leaving her there with her view.

As soon as I turned from her, I saw Amanda not too far away from me. She spotted me and gasped. I went and walked right up to her, but she backed off a little bit and put her hands in front of her.

"No, Mike..." she said.

"What's wrong?" I asked her quickly.

She bit her lip before answering. "I just...I..." She trailed off and never finished her response. She turned around and walked quickly into the girl's restroom. I stood there for awhile very confused. Eventually I headed back to the roof and plopped down next to Travis on the edge again.

"Imagine this:" he began. "Your everyday life was once controlled by a series of blinking lights," he said while motioning towards the traffic lights nearby. "And a series of arrows painted on the ground by people you don't even know. One day you wake up and now what's your everyday life controlled by? 'People' who want nothing more than to eat the flesh from your bones."

"I don't have to imagine that." I responded. "We're living that right now."

"These things are just bullies." He said. He then looked around slowly. "Lots and lots of bullies."

I laughed. "Yah? Well good luck standing up to this bully."

He smiled. "Hey, I've got another one of those 'Where's Waldo?' type of zombies." He stood up and moved to the opposite end of the roof. "Look by the front bumper of that overturned black car near the bridge."

I leaned out and my eyes started searching. It took me awhile to notice, but soon I found it. Near the car was a set of zombified Siamese twins. The zombies were so dumb that they haven't developed the idea that they were attached by the hip. They fell over and stood back up repeatedly. I laughed and went back to my original spot.

I looked towards the front entrance to see Kate again. She had moved close up to the window and had her hand pressed against the glass. She was taunting one zombie that was trying to frantically bite her through the glass, but of course it couldn't. Her expression was blank, but you could just tell that she was thinking about something.

"So if you could have chosen to be anywhere else but here," started Travis. "Where would you rather be shacked up at?"

I looked down and thought for a moment. I'd never really thought about the question before. "Man...that's a tough one. Maybe...Fort Knox I suppose. It's already heavily guarded. We might have been able to fight our way out. If we ran out of bullets we could start smashing heads with gold bricks...and if not then at least I'll die rich." Travis laughed loudly and grabbed one of the handguns before sitting down. He began to disassemble and reassemble it. This seemed to be some sort of nervous habit he had formed. "What about you?" I asked him.

"Well..." he began. "There are three places I always thought about. First would be my house. It's easy to defend a small building, and I live close enough to other houses so I can start roof hopping if need be. The second place would be a castle. Big, heavy walls, one main entrance that can be raised and lowered whenever you feel like it, and castle's usually have a great view...then again they didn't have houses around way back when castle's would have been a normal place to dwell."

"Yah," I joked. "Imagine riding your noble stallion away from a dragon and wind up getting lost in the ghetto. What's the third place?"

"Disneyland." he said bluntly.

"Disneyland?"

"Yah!" he exclaimed. "I've always wanted to shoot things from a roller coaster. What better to shoot than a zombified Mickie or Goofy?"

We both laughed for a long while. I stayed on that roof all day with Travis talking zombie. He eventually stood up and left me alone with the setting sun. I stood on that roof alone and paced back and forth until it was so dark that I couldn't see the zombies, but I could still hear their moans. Eventually I too left the roof and headed back to where I had woken up. Amanda was nowhere to be found. It was hard to sleep without her warm body against mine and her soothing voice to calm me. Without her I felt as good as JJ.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Gunfire was my wake up alarm. I jumped to a sitting position as I heard shots being fired outside. I ran out from where I was sleeping and burst through the doorway on the roof. I was the last one to arrive, it seemed. Travis and Kate stood in shock at the scene, and Amanda's jaw hung open a bit. I didn't notice at first what was happening, but I soon noticed that the zombies had turned their attention away from the theater. Gunfire was now joined by screaming.

There on the river I could spot a small wooden boat. The boat was carrying two male passengers, moving about frantically with rifles. They shot any zombie that would get too close to the little boat. Unfortunately for them, the zombies didn't learn their lesson. The swarm gathered heavily upon the boat, and zombies gathered all over the waters. The two men fired swiftly and accurately, but they were heavily outnumbered. I saw zombie after zombie fall after a piece of their brains exploded from the back of their head.

One man was firing his rifle at the zombies on the river opposite the theater. Round after round was spent until it looked like the man ran out of ammunition. He took the rifle and started clubbing the zombies with it. Left and right, he fought like his life depended on it. Eventually he impaled one of the zombies through the head before drawing out a side arm and continued to fire.

The second man had an automatic weapon of some sort and fired it at the zombies on our side of the river. I saw a bullet hit the Siamese zombies, but it didn't slow them down. In fact they kept moving so quickly that they tore themselves apart. The adjoined zombies turned into separate creatures with gaping wounds in their sides. One of them took an immediate bullet to the head, while the other crept quickly to the water. I grabbed hold of the boat and it began to rock. The zombie grabbed the second man by the arm and bit his hand. The four of us on the roof could hear the screams of terror clearly.

The first man turned around and saw the blood pouring from the other man's hand. He aimed the pistol at the zombie and fired point blank into its face. He then turned around to continue fighting for his life, but his arm was soon grabbed. The man fell from his boat into the waters where we could see a great struggle. The man was surrounded as his partner also fell into the water from the rocking boat. We never saw the second man arise, but the first man rose screaming with a zombie clinging to his neck. Kate and Amanda looked away as the man went back under.

Travis and I stepped forward to get a better view. We watched until the zombies attention was redirected back towards the theater. The boat had been pushed ashore, but it still looked intact. Eventually I sat down with my back against the ledge, and Travis turned to sit as well. It stayed silent before I spoke.

"So we aren't the only ones to have that idea. It didn't look like it went over too well, did it?" I said with a forced smirk.

Travis nodded slowly. "At least we learned something. I don't know about you, but I think I've become numb to seeing something die by now. These unfortunate bastards taught us something today."

"Yah...I figure you mean apart from strength in numbers."

"Definitely. We have to keep our eyes open. Learn everything we can about these things. What I learned was that these things are attracted to the loudest noises. We can use this to our advantage if we ever needed to." he responded.

I looked up to see Amanda exit the roof. I stood up and followed her quickly. She walked off quickly, but I caught up with her back inside. I grabbed her arm and she spun around quickly. She threw herself against me and I just held her in my arms. I couldn't help but smile knowing she was back where she belonged. My smile vanished when I noticed she was crying.

"Amanda...what's the matter? Why have you been avoiding me?" I asked her softly.

It took her awhile to say anything back between sniffles and tears. "I just...I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you. I can't lose you. You're the only thing that I have left!"

I just hugged her tightly. "Amanda...you're all I have as well. I would be just as crushed if anything happened to you. I can't hurt you. I'd just be hurting myself." As I said this I shut my eyes. Suddenly I felt some sort of tugging, and Amanda broke free from me. She ran quickly away and left me standing alone. All I could do was stand in wonder at what was happening. I remember standing there for the longest time until a cold hand grabbed my shoulder.

I spun quickly and shoved the hand from my shoulder. Travis stood there looking like he needed something to say. I apologized but he just shook his head as if he didn't even know that I did anything.

"Listen," he began quickly. "I want to show you something." He turned and ran for the roof before I had a chance to respond, so I decided to just follow him. I wanted to leave Amanda to herself to think about things...I mean if she ran away from me then it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to chase her down.

I opened the door slowly and Travis had a bottle in his hand with a rag coming out of the top. He pulled out a lighter and lit the rag. He turned his head and smiled evilly at me before hurling the flaming bottle over the edge of the building. I ran to see where it landed, and my eyes peered at then burning corpse of one of the zombies. It really didn't seem to have any effect at all because it was still moving around.

"Do you see?" he asked loudly and triumphantly. "Do you see?"

"See what? The zombie burning? Yah I can see that plain as day!" I responded.

"No!" he shouted. "The others! Look at the others!"

I moved my attention away from the flaming zombie to see that the zombies around him had turned to face the flames. They lost interest in the theater, and were focused on the fire. Some of the zombies could not see so they didn't pay any attention to the zombie torch.

"A distraction..." I said to myself.

Travis stood tall to voice his idea. "We can draw their attention away to retrieve the boat at the river. Our Ark has arrived on schedule. We can use the fire to make it downstream a lot farther than those two poor bastards earlier."

"So...it's actually possible." I stated. "We just might be able to get out of this place."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_"Come on!" screamed Travis with an outstretched hand. He was standing in the back of a flatbed semi holding a large automatic weapon. Kate was starting to drive the giant truck away. I ran a little bit faster, and I eventually jumped to grab Travis. When he got hold of my hand he swung me around and I rolled onto the flatbed. I picked up a rifle that was lying on the truck and took aim._

_Kate was driving the truck towards the interstate. We were hoping it would be less congested, seeing as how everyone was dead. We were wrong. People were dead, but their bodies lined the cemented path ext to the abandoned vehicles. Kate had to slalom these cars, but in doing so she ran over a number of bodies. This didn't bother us anymore as we were used to the constant death. There was not a single zombie walking these roads, which made the trip a little bit easier. There was nothing left for them to feast on except for us, and we didn't plan on stopping anytime soon. We were headed for the nearest military base._

The next day I just stood out on the roof and watched. I just watched the zombies and tried, like I always did, to imagine it was something different. This was a video game. This was a movie. This was a story in a comic book. This was just a dream. I tried to make myself believe in something that wasn't true at all. I'm still home in my bed with my family just down the hall. Sometimes the method works, but there's no denying that I'm stuck where I am. This thought always filled me with regret and made me utter a loud sigh.

The door to the roof creaked open, and Travis popped his head out like he was looking for something. He spotted me and motioned for me to follow him. I followed him all the way down to the main entrance. On the way there I could hear a tune being hummed. It was both jolly and sadistic at the same time. The sound made you shudder with fear, and it caused your hairs to stand. We came to the front doors that were blocked by the movie stands. Travis ducked to hide himself, so I took cover as well. I peeked around the corner to see what was making the noise.

Amanda was facing the doors and moving very strangely. She was still humming that tune, and she seemed to start posing. I was confused, but Travis tried to explain.

"She's been doing this for hours," he whispered. "She's modeling for the zombies. Mike...we both knew that this was going to happen eventually. She's just...she's..."

"What?" I asked, even though I knew what he was saying.

Travis looked down before responding. "She's lost her mind. Mentally she's just not there anymore. I don't know what it is. I'm no doctor. She goes on and off between Amanda and this person who doesn't know us. I've tried talking to her once in this state of mind, and she acted as if she didn't even know who I was."

"Yah...I've been noticing some changes lately." I said while still staring at Amanda. "I thought that something like this would happen. I just wish it didn't have to. I...I don't really know what I can do. I can't change her..." I took a long pause and just shook my head. "What about Kate?"

Travis looked up at me. "She seems to be fine. She's figured out some way to block out this whole thing. It's amazing. She's in one of the theaters if you want to have a look. I can keep an eye on Amanda for you. I know you'll be back for her."

I nodded before standing. I went down the hall towards the theater where noise was coming from. I walked into the dark room and heard cheery music playing. Kate sat in the middle of the theater alone. The film was some sort of love story. I noticed that Kate was speaking along every word with the characters on screen. She had memorized this one front to back.

I sat down next to her and watched the movie with her. She hit every word flawlessly. I didn't say anything to interrupt her. I just sat silently until the movie came to an end. When the credits began to roll, she finally looked towards me and smiled. I tried to smile back, but I could tell I failed miserably. There was something about her that bothered me deeply at that point. I don't know what it was that made me uncomfortable, but her eyes just bothered me. I think it was because of the fact that she was not bothered by anything.

"How's it going, buddy?" she asked a little too chipper.

"It's...going." I said. "Been outside lately? Have you gotten any fresh air?"

She laughed deeply. "Outside? Why would I want to do that? Going outside just reminds me of the situation we're in. If I stay inside, away from the windows all day long, then this is all one giant slumber party as far as I'm concerned." She sighed and paused to take a drink from a water bottle. "Might as well, right? This is the last party we're ever going to have."

I stood up after talking a bit more and headed back into the hall. Travis left when he spotted me, and I got a chance to watch Amanda. She was still putting on a little show for the audience. She was dancing around to a tune that wasn't playing. She wasn't humming any longer, but every now and then she'd let off some short noise as if she were really getting into it. I eventually stood up and made my way over to her. I wanted to talk to her. I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned slowly to face me, but her expression was blank when our eyes met.

"Hey, mister...you ruined my performance!" she said while putting her hands on her hips.

"Amanda..."

"And how do you know my name? I'm not supposed to talk to strangers...go away!" she said before I could say anymore. I tried to say something, but she kept interrupting me. "I don't know you! Leave me alone or I'll tell my parents on you!"

All I could do was walk away. Her mind had gone way back to when she was a child. It must be some sort of defense to this. Her mind has gone back to when she wouldn't even know what a zombie was. I was glad that part of her still existed, even though it would also soon fade away.

I turned to look as Kate stepped out of the theater and stretched. Travis was nearby, and the two of them walked down the hall hand in hand. Kate rested her head on his shoulder and followed him into a room at the end of the hall. I smiled because I was happy for them, but I frowned knowing that I might never feel like I was loved again. Watching Amanda was breaking my heart so I turned around and headed off to sleep...alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_Amanda was riding shotgun, but she was asleep the whole time. Kate got off the highway and onto residential roads. This is when problems started to arise. We saw one zombie wander out from a back alley, and Kate floored it. She nailed the thing right on the grill, and it splattered. I saw the bottom half of the carcass lie motionless as I sat with my legs dangling off the side of the flatbed. Travis was directly behind me doing the same thing over the opposite side._

_"Holy..." he began. I turned to see that one subdivision was completely filled with zombies. They were in the streets and on the lawns. They were filling the homes and sidewalks where children used to play. Now the children were just as violent as the zombies themselves. The walking dead saw us and headed our way, but Kate drove straight for them. She sped as fast as she could right towards them. I held on for dear life as the flatbed began to shake from the increased speed._

Amanda was with me when I woke up the next day. She was asleep on top of me, and I just let her rest. The insanity seemed, just as Travis said, to come and go. It was times like this where I enjoyed her company. If she was resting then I knew she could at least be who I remembered. My dear, quiet Amanda was fading away. I ran my fingers through her hair and listened to the only voice I could still recognize. It was around that time when I noticed something new in the environment. The lights weren't on. The electricity was out.

I gently moved Amanda so that I could stand without disturbing her. I headed out of the theater I was in, and stepped into the dark hallway. I could hear a repetitive banging noise and vulgar swearing. I wasn't exactly sure where it was coming from so I had to follow the sound.

Clang! "Son of a bitch!" Clang! "Mother fucker!" Clang! "God damn it all!" Clang! Clang! Clang! I knew that Travis was the one yelling, and, by the sounds of it, he was in trouble. I started to run towards his voice in a panic. I was expecting the absolute worst. Had the zombies gotten in? How? That doesn't matter now. I had to help him. I continued to run, and along the way I grabbed a broom. It was the closest thing to a weapon that I could get to. Anything was better than nothing.

As I got closer, I could hear a deep rumbling noise. It sounded like a generator of some sort. The lights came back on, but then went back out. When the lights died, so did the generator. I threw the door of the room Travis is in open. He was carrying a large wrench and beating the generator with it. The heavy clangs and loud swears started to arise again. I dropped the broom and Travis noticed my presence.

"This piece of shit!" he yelled while motioning at the large machine in front of him. "This thing is quitting on us. You know what that means? No more lights. No more air conditioning. No more preserving our goddam food!" He lifted the wrench and bashed the machine with it again. I never said a word. He continued. "We are royally fucked, my friend."

I turned and walked away without speaking. As I moved away, I heard Travis continue his abuse upon the now useless hunk of metal. It all stopped when I heard him yell out in anger and lunge the wrench at a wall. It clattered to the floor heavily, and Travis was silent. He was starting to give up hope as well. I might have been the only one able to keep it together. Maybe it was the hope that people were still looking for survivors.

I went out onto the roof and found Kate up there. I watched as she moved closer and closer towards the edge. I wasn't very trusting at that point so I went by her side to make sure that she wasn't going to do anything drastic. She looked at me and smiled.

"Kate...I thought you didn't want to come up here."

"Yah well...the slumber party sucks. Can't see a damn thing in there anyways. I'm not going to die."

I didn't really understand what she meant by the last statement, but I didn't want to go into it. If she was thinking optimistically then at least she hadn't given up hope either. he didn't say anymore. She simply turned and walked back inside to leave me standing alone. That seemed to be the way conversations would end.

I paced back and forth across the roof. It was still early, but the sky was beginning to turn dark. On the horizon was a city shrouded in darkness. It was only a matter of time for the night to spread and overtake the day. It seemed that maybe the light would never return.

"How sad..." said a voice from behind me. I turned to see Amanda near the door. She didn't have the crazed look in her eye. It was really Amanda. She came up to me and put her arms around me tightly. "Isn't it odd? You come up here sometimes and you're alone. Sure there's a million bodies out here too, but you're still lonely."

"I don't feel very alone right now." I told her.

There was a pause before she spoke. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's happening to me. I keep waking up in a place where I never fell asleep, and I always wake up feeling completely awful."

I tried to smile. "We all wake up feeling like that."

"No...It's different. I wake up with an empty feeling. Like I'm missing something. I wake up feeling like I've done something wrong." Tears began to roll down her cheeks. Suddenly she pushed me away from her. She had that odd look in her eyes again. "Don't!" she yelled at me. She stormed quickly away from me and left me confused. I learned that the insanity was triggered randomly.

I wished that she wasn't a lost cause. I constantly worried if she would still be this way once we escaped. I worried if it would get any worse. Too many thoughts flowed through my mind, but there was one more thing that began to bother me. It had started to rain.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_The impact from the semi into the mob of zombies made me slide all the way into the cab. I remained on the flatbed of the tuck as zombies started surrounding us. I turned to see that Travis was no longer with me. His body had flown into the crowd, and I saw him trying to fight his way back to the truck. It was no use. He yelled out in desperation before surrendering to the numbers. He took a handgun and shot himself in the head before the zombies could finish him off._

_I heard Kate moving frantically at the front, and she eventually threw the semi into reverse. I noticed the zombies could not climb onto the back of the flatbed, so I moved into the center. Some of the zombies were crushed by the truck backing up. I shot any zombie that got close enough to touch me. I wasn't going to take any chances. Kate slammed on the brakes and threw me off balance. I fell forwards and lost my gun. I was too close to the edge and a zombie grabbed my forearm._

It was raining when I woke up. It had been raining through the entire night. The rain wasn't falling heavily, but it had been raining long enough to make a difference. I had gone straight to the roof. I could see that puddles had formed on the ground. The skies had turned very dark, and there seemed to be no signs of clearing at all. The biggest change I noticed was the zombies. The rain was confusing them. They must have thought that each drop was just something touching them. It was then I remembered how stupid these things were. They wandered about a bit more aimlessly then normal. They would crowd around certain areas that they normally wouldn't have.

The creaking door behind me broke my attention. Travis stuck out his head and whispered for me to follow him. He was creeping quietly through the theater. I didn't understand why he was trying to be so quiet, but I started sneaking along after him. He headed for the room with the broken generator. We both moved quietly in, but he went straight past the machine. He moved to the back of the room where there was a heavy metal door. I hadn't noticed it the first time I was in there. There was a little window in the middle of it, but it was so dark that I at first thought it was another room. A zombie's head passed by the window quickly and it made me jump back.

Travis shushed me before whispering. _"Yah. It's an exit out the back way. Look out really closely."_ I stuck my head by the window and peered out. All I could really see was darkness, but I saw what he meant for me to see. The river wasn't too far off from here. Better yet, the boat was just on the other side. _"This door is a straight shot to our ticket out of here!"_

_"There's something wrong...why aren't there many of those retards wandering back here?" _I asked him quietly.

_"Well you mean besides the rain?"_ He questioned. He must have already figured that out. I nodded and he pointed towards the generator. _"The sound."_

We moved back into the theater to get away from the window. We talked about how they were attracted to sound and light. We figured that these things had the same mind as a small child. They're going to be confused about loud noises and shiny objects. The rain can be both good and bad for us. It confuses the zombies, but it would put out any fires we threw up to distract them for our escape. We had to figure that out eventually, but Travis wanted to do more exploring.

"Is that what you do all day?" I asked him.

"Well...I do that and Kate." He answered with a laugh. He was still laughing as he walked away.

I headed back for the roof. It was all that I really wanted to do. I wanted to try looking at things the way Travis did. I noticed that the zombies were attracted to the sound of rain drops hitting a puddle. I noticed that the place a zombie wasn't standing was a place that a zombie couldn't get into. I saw a zombie standing in the back of a pickup truck wandering back and forth trying to get out. Some poor guy must have been hiding back there, but got eaten. Now the zombie can't lift its leg to get out of a truck.

I also noticed a familiar sound that I hadn't heard since we've been trapped here. A helicopter was in the air. I couldn't see where it was because of the darkness. The beating of the propellers drove hope within me that this was almost all over, so I began to call out for it. I thought I saw it in the distance. I called out louder. I could see a blinking white light. The propellers were booming loudly. I kept calling out loudly until suddenly I was hit from behind. I fell to the rooftop and another body landed on me. A hand covered my mouth tightly.

"Quiet!" demanded Travis from above me. "What are you thinking? Don't you remember they're attracted to noise?" I thought he was ruining our chance of escape. I fought against hi, but I couldn't get up.

"Helicopter!" I managed to say before he put his hand back over my mouth. I was muffled again, and I still couldn't move.

"Relax!" he told me. I kept struggling against him. "There's no helicopter, you damn fool!" I stopped struggling as those words hit me. "There's no helicopter! Just listen!" There was silence at first. A flash of light filled the sky and thunder followed. "There's no damn helicopter!" I stopped moving all together as he let me go. I just stayed on the ground.

I was beginning to see thing. I imagined a helicopter out there searching for us. My eyes had seen a storm, but my mind said that it was something different. Was I hoping for a lost cause? I couldn't believe what was happening, but it couldn't be avoided.

After a long while I stood back up. Travis had left by now. I was cold and wet from the rain. I looked again to make sure that there really was no helicopter out there. I told myself to stop trying to believe what wasn't really there. I walked slowly back inside.

I was dripping wet as I headed down the stairs. I started to feel very dizzy and sick as I moved, so I started to slow. I opened the door at the bottom to get back into the building. It seemed to take forever to swing open, but it finally did so. To my surprise, there stood Travis, Kate, and Amanda on the other side of the door waiting for me. Seeing the three of them together made me smile. I took one heavy step forward and blacked out. The last thing I remembered was the three of them rushing to catch me.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_I tried to break free from the zombie's grasp, but it was strong. It kept a tight grip as it tried again and again to lower its mouth to my flesh. I would punch it when it got too close, but it was not giving up. I continuously struck the monster on the head, but its grasp stayed tight. I managed to get my free arm to my waist where I was carrying a small blade. I had picked the knife up from the theater, and I was now glad I did so. The zombie once more tried to bite my arm, but I punched it with the blade in my hand. Its head reeled back, so I took my shot. I plunged the knife straight into the top of its head. The zombie's dead eyes turned even more deathly...if that was even possible. I tried to retract the blade out, but it had gotten caught on the skull. I didn't have a enough time to struggle with it, so I pushed the dead zombie back into the swarm with the knife still stuck into it. I sprung to my feet and dived for my rifle. I rolled around as the moving truck took away my balance._

_Kate was screaming up in the front. I heard her say that she could see a military base. She was going to head there to try to get saved. The base was still a long ways off, and the truck wouldn't make it. When we got a safe enough distance away from the flood of zombies, the three of us bailed off the truck and started running on foot. We ran straight for the base, and the flood was in hot pursuit. We all ran as fast as we could. Our breaths were short from all the struggling we already had to go through. It seemed like these zombies would never get tired. They could easily run longer than we could. We started shouting at the base when soldiers were in view. They all moved around quickly under the blaring of an alert siren. All of the soldiers took aim in our direction._

"When was the last time we were all together like this?" asked Kate

"Too long," said Amanda. "Much too long."

Travis shifted in his seat. "How does that happen? We're all trapped in one building. It's just not right to avoid each other all day long. We should all meet at least once a day. We need to communicate while we still can."

"Hey..." started Amanda. "It's not my fault that I'm...I'm-"

"I didn't mean it like that." Travis responded quickly. "I meant that everyone should know what everyone else knows. It might save your life sometime."

My eyes slowly opened. My head hurt badly from the fall, and it felt like something was wrapped around it. The room was very blurry at first. There was a light coming from something, but otherwise the room was dark. I could make out the figures of the other three. They didn't seem to notice I had regained consciousness. I just kept quiet to see what would happen.

Kate was resting in the arms of Travis. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to have a little bit of a smile on her face. Travis was shaking his head, thinking about everything we've gone through. I noticed that the light was coming from a flashlight that was lain on a shelf above him. The light shone towards Amanda. She was sitting with her hands folded and eyes glued to the floor.

"I wonder what's worse," Kate said. "Watching all your friends die, or waiting for your time to come? I don't mean to be a downer here, but think about it. We're all going to die sooner or later. Sometimes I wonder why I shouldn't just get it over with right now. Then I remember that hope may just be coming the next day."

"It will come." said Amanda quietly. "It has to come. We're here for a reason, right? It could be because of anything. Maybe we're the last good people on earth. Maybe this is an extreme version of survival of the fittest. Maybe we're waiting for other survivors to die..."

Travis shook his head slowly. I didn't know whether or not it was because he disagreed or because he knew she was right. "This is just wrong. Why would anyone have to go through this? Could this be a punishment instead?"

Kate sat up and stretched. "What does it even matter? We're here and there's nothing we can really do about it. We're still going to try that boat plan of yours, right Travis? Do you even have that worked out yet or are you two just going to go running out there like madmen shooting your guns off?"

I decided to speak up. "It wouldn't just be the two of us. We'd all be doing it." I waiting until everyone looked quizzically at me. "Well Travis and I can't go alone. Do you expect us to grab the boat and come all the way back to get both of you? We're all going to go...it would be a lot faster. There's just one other problem. We need to get the boat before the rain carries it away."

"Mike..." started Amanda. "It stopped raining last night. You've been out cold all day long. The boat is still there, although most of the land is flooded." She got up slowly and went to lie down next to me. "I'm scared. I don't know if I can do this." She grabbed my hand and held it close to her.

Travis stood up and grabbed the light from above him. "Well what are we still waiting for? Everyone knows the plan. We're just going to take the boat downstream until we find...anything. I'm not so sure what's left to say."

"We'll do it tomorrow," I said. "Noon will be fine. We might as well be able to see what's ahead of us. Hopefully we'll do a lot better than those two poor folks did with the boat." Everyone stayed silent for a long moment. I took this opportunity to leave. I was tired, even after being knocked out for so long. I left everyone while they were still in silence. Travis was right. Nothing else could really be said about the situation. We all knew what was going to happen.

I went into the first empty theater I could get to and slumped into one of the seats. I closed my eyes, but not because I wanted to sleep. I just sat and thought about things. Tomorrow we'd finally get out of this place. Someone would make a distraction at the front doors and then we'd head out the back door near the generator. Through, hopefully, a small crowd of zombies we'd move to the boat. Everyone would pile in and we'd see what happens from there. It all sounded so simple when I thought about it. I knew it would be much more dangerous. All I could do now was wait for tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_We waved and hollered frantically at the guards. They still kept their weapons aimed towards us. I thought they would be able to tell the difference. It had been five months since this epidemic first arose. They should be able to tell us apart. All we wanted was safety and security. I noticed we weren't running side-by-side anymore. I was ahead of the pack, and Amanda was close behind me. I turned my head to find Kate. She had fallen. After telling Amanda to keep running on ahead of me, I turned back for Kate._

_Kate was clutching her chest and crawling slowly. She had completely run out of energy. The zombies were closing in quickly. I tried to lift Kate, but she was pushing me back. She wouldn't let me help her. I pleaded, but she told me to just go. If I didn't leave now then we'd both be turned into meals, so I turned my back towards her. I felt a tug on the back of my pants, and I started to hear my pistol being fired. Kate was putting up her last effort, but my attention was on the soldiers. At the sound of the pistol, they open fired. Amanda had no chance. I counted three rounds tear through her chest before she fell. I ran to her even though she was already dead. Now all attention was focused on me._

Why was I having these dreams? What did they mean? Why didn't they stop? It didn't make ant sense to me, but asking questions wasn't going to get me any answers. You'd never get any answers anymore. I tried to push the dream to the back of my mind as I had done before. I stretched and noticed that I was alone again. Amanda must have left to prepare. Had she even came last night or did I just imagine that too? Either way I needed to get ready.

Daylight, along with silence, filled the halls. Immediately a feeling came over me like something would go wrong today. I didn't know what would happen or what ever gave me the feeling, but something wasn't right. I headed quickly for the roof to find that everyone was already gearing up.

Travis looked like a walking armory. Guns were tucked into holsters on his shoulders, hips, and ankles. A large rifle point high into the air from his back, and a big machine gun was propped along the edge of the wall beside him. He had spare pistol clips along his belt, along with a large knife. He was loading ammunition into the magazine for another pistol when I saw him. He popped in the last bullet and loaded the gun. He cocked the slide, clicked on the safety, and tucked the gun into the back of his pants before grabbing the automatic rifle and resting it onto his lap.

Amanda wasn't so heavily armed as Travis. We were afraid that the insanity might kick in during the middle of the escape and that she might try to teach a zombie how to aim a gun. We had to give her something to defend herself with, and sticks and rocks were a little bit outdated. She was holding onto a machine pistol, and a freshly sharpened machete was at her side. She was facing out across the sea of the dead. I noticed that she was biting her nails, but I didn't blame her. I'm sure everyone was nervous at this point.

Kate was almost completely surrounded by bottles. I had just figured that it was filled with the same stuff Travis had shown me. She looked as if she was asleep. Her head rested against one of the low walls, and her eyes were closed. Her lips were moving slowly as if to be making out words.

"Kate..." I began. "Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and paused before answering. She looked a little bit confused. "Oh...yah. I was just trying to remember what music sounded like." She forced a smile and put her head back with her eyes closed. "Well that and you're all leaving me on the roof alone. The three of you are going to be all prepared to leave me behind as soon as I drop the first bottle."

"We're not going to leave you! What would be the point of that?" I asked her.

"I don't know...I'm just nervous. Leave me alone."

I took her advice and turned away. I sat near Amanda, and took my choice of leftover weapons. A large shotgun was the first thing my hands went for. Travis must have loaded all the weapons before I got there because the shotgun was ready for action. I slung that around my back and took some shells with me. Another assault rifle was nearby, also loaded. I also grabbed a few handguns and ammunition. I really wasn't too concerned about what I had. I was worrying about Amanda. I put an arm around her shoulder and she leaned into me.

That's when I figured it out. There was hope for survival now. She was back to her usual self whenever there was a chance for escape. When there is no hope, insanity is her escape. I held her tightly, hoping I would never have to see that side of her again.

Just then I heard a beeping sound. I looked up and Travis was staring at his watch. He pressed a button on the side, grabbed his rifle, and stood up slowly with a new look on his face. He was looking back and forth to each of us slowly. He rose the rifle in one hand, rested it on his shoulder, and sighed deeply as he gave us a look as if to say that it was time. The rest of us stood up and gathered our gear.

I led the way down, clutching my rifle tightly. Amanda had her free hand on my shoulder, and I could feel the shotgun against my back. Travis walked silently behind us. I looked back and saw that his hand was shaking a little bit. He was looking at the ground and talking to himself, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

We reached the back door and waited. I peered out the little window. The sky was going dark quickly again. We had to move fast or else the rain would ruin our plan. We were supposed to wait until Kate had thrown all the bottles. She was going to scream and scream to gather attention at the front, and then when she ran down to us, we would all go out together.

We waited by the door until the screams started. It didn't take very long. I couldn't make out what she was actually screaming to get their attention, but I could still hear the shrill cry. It continued for longer than we expected. I suddenly noticed that the screams weren't joined by shattering glass or crackling fire. I opened the door slightly and listened.

"Get back inside! Come to the roof! Come on! Hurry up and get back inside right now!" Kate was screaming.

The three of us went running as fast as we could towards the stairs back up to the roof. As soon as I had taken a step up, there was a loud blast and the entire theater shook. I paused for a moment to think. That was an explosion. I remained still until another blast shook the floors again. I climbed as quickly as I could up the steps. Five more explosions rocked the building and drowned out Kate's screams before I reached the top. I kicked the roof door open and I saw a military jet flying past the theater. I could tell that it was a Navy plane, but it was flying too high to see us. Another explosion went off and the building shook again. Kate was jumping up and down, screaming and pointing. An explosion went off in the middle of a large crowd of zombies. Body parts flew in all directions, and the building shook once more. Almost immediately after, another large explosion went off on the opposite end of the roof. The building shook so violently that it knocked us all over. Part of the roof was aflame and then collapsed. Travis inched his way over to the collapsed roof then ran quickly inside. Several more jets flew high overhead dropping bombs before leaving.

The event lasted only for a short time. It was still daylight after the planes had left. I couldn't really make myself leave. I could only examine the damage. The bombs hadn't killed off all of the zombies. It wasn't even close. They had taken out thousands of the creatures, but many more still survived. I could see past the zombies now. There was not a span that spread out to the horizon. Many smaller buildings were completely destroyed. Several were engulfed in flames and burning to the ground. Craters were all around the theater, filled with dead zombies and those injured enough to not be able to crawl out. On the other side of the theater, the bridge had been destroyed, but worst of ll, so had the boat. Planks of wood were thrown all over the ground, some charred too badly to ever be used again. I shook my head and walked slowly to the part of the roof that had collapsed. I could see into one of the theaters. Zombies had started filling into the room.

I bolted through the door and down the stairs. I ran towards the theater room, but I didn't see or hear any zombies along the way. I saw Travis sitting on the floor outside of the room by the time I had gotten there. He told me to look for myself. I opened the door slowly and drew one of my pistols. I heard the growls and moans erupt, but the zombies were blocked behind a large wall of debris. They were still trapped outside, and there was no way for them to get to us. I saw a small hole where debris did not cover. I stuck my pistol through the crack and fired. I heard a high pitched screech from a zombie before walking away.

I headed for the theater entrance lobby and just sat on the floor. I waited until everyone else had gotten over the shock of the situation and joined me. We all sat on the floor silently and unbelieving. Where did you even start thinking about what had just happened?

Kate was the first to break the silence. "What in the name of holy hell just happened?"

"Planes," said Amanda.

"No shit!" shouted Kate.

"Calm down, Kate! There's no need to be so angry! Don't you realize this is a good thing? There are other survivors out there besides us!" I told her.

Travis shifted a little bit. "That was a military jet. They don't make random bombings unless they're testing something, but I didn't see anything special about those bombs. They were doing extermination. They saw a large gathering of zombies so they decide to take them all out."

"Planes," said Amanda.

"It just so happens that they took out our means of escape in the process," continued Travis. He was shaking his head and sighed. "I...I just don't know what to do. We need a new plan before they level this whole building."

Kate stood up. "I don't think I can handle anymore surprises for today. I know my mind is too crazy to be thinking up some new plan. Hell I never even thought up the first one. You gentlemen can figure it out. I'm going to go off by myself and relax. Pretend like this never happened." With that she turned and walked off before anyone could speak.

Travis got up after she did. He started unloading all the guns that were attached to his body. He just dropped them right to the floor, knowing that he's not going to be needing them anytime soon. The rifle dropped heavily and clumsily. All the pistols fell into a large pile with the extra ammunition and spare magazines. After all the guns had dropped, Travis walked off to be on his own.

Amanda and I sat alone in the lobby. We didn't speak to each other, and her mind seemed to be very distant. I stood slowly and added my share to the pile Travis had started. I turned to Amanda, who still didn't move. I called her name, but I got no response. All I could do was walk away and rerun the day through my mind.

"Planes," said Amanda once more as I was walking away. I didn't turn back to look, but as Amanda went out of site, I heard a high pitched laughter behind me. I shook my head knowing that Amanda's insanity had returned. Nobody had any idea of what we were going to do. There was no hope for us now.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_What do I do? Do I try to hold my own ground against the zombies, or do I keep trying to convince those soldiers that I'm human? I decided that turning into a soldier for the dead was something I wouldn't let myself do. I ran straight for the soldiers and drew another one of my pistols. I fired three shots straight into the air. The soldiers responded by firing at me. I dove to the floor and rolled to my back. I watched as zombies began to fall with well placed shots to the head. I fired at one as it got too close and it fell forward. The zombie was dead, but as it fell towards me, its mouth was open. The zombie's teeth cut my leg as it slumped to the floor. I kicked at its head, and I felt the skull crush beneath my heel._

_I got back up and started running at the soldiers again. They were still firing heavily, but they weren't hitting me. I could hear, and sometimes feel, their bullets whiz by me. I could still hear zombies falling. They must have realized who I was or what I was. I was close enough now to distinguish one soldier's features from another. Soon enough I was close enough to dive forward behind their lines. I was breathing heavily as I turned to see the walls of zombies falling. They seemed endless, and some of the soldiers headed back inside the base. Someone had grabbed me by the collar and was dragging me into the base. I didn't feel very well from all the running, and I was unable to understand what people were screaming. I heard an authoritive sounding voice saying that I needed to be taken to the medic. Before blacking out I heard the voice say to make sure I was isolated._

Our escape plan had been ruined. We aren't the only survivors left. There must be many survivors left or else they wouldn't bother trying to take the land back already. That was a Navy plane. What does this mean? Facts and questions seemed to run unending through my mind. I sat in one of the theaters with my back propped against the wall with the screen above me. I liked to sit that way sometimes because it felt as if something was looking over me.

They aren't coming for us. How would they even know we were in here? They might try to figure out why all the zombies are gathered around this specific building, if there was still a building left after the attacks. Why now? Why wait so long to attack? If they're trying to kill everything then they must have given up on search and rescue. We need to get out of here, but how? There's nothing to run in.

I stood up to join everyone else, but I was knocked off my feet with a violent shake. Explosions started to erupt all around. They were attacking again. I ran out into the lobby and slipped on something. I turned back to figure out what it was, and I found a little silver ball. I picked it up to observe it, and that's when I noticed that there was many of these scattered about the lobby. They were ball bearings. The bombs these jets were using contained many ball bearings to tear through zombie flesh, as well as skull, easily. There were holes in the windows of the front doors where these ball bearings, which seemed to be somewhere between the size of a marble and a golf ball, came from.

I began to run for the roof to tell everyone else, but Travis came running into the lobby looking for someone. I heard the whistle above of a bomb falling from the sky. I yelled for Travis to get down as I dove for the floor myself. He turned slowly towards the front doors and another explosion went off. His eyes widened as a ball bearing tore through the window and took a hunk out of his thigh. Travis was thrown from his feet, and the ball bearing smashed into the wall behind him. Another of the deadly spheres was rolling towards me, and as it touched my arm it burned a mark into me. I jumped to my feet and ran to Travis. I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the lobby. I left him to himself, and I ran to the roof.

"Planes!" yelled Amanda with a laugh as she spun slowly on the roof top. I dove for her and pulled her to the ground. She struggled at first, but I had to keep her down.

"Amanda, please! I don't know what part of you can hear me, but you need to stay down or you'll die!" It was all I could think of to tell her. She stared back attentively at me. Her eyes looked unfamiliar to me, but her expression told me she understood. She smiled innocently.

"Okay, mister! Dieing would be a bad, bad thing!"

"Mike?" called Kate from across the roof. I sprang up to get her as well. I saw Amanda take a big gulp of air and held it in, trying to make herself flat. I started to run towards Kate, but another whistle from above drew my attention. I dove painfully onto the gravel while yelling for Kate to do the same. She did the same as Travis and turned towards the sound. The explosion went off, and the ball bearings went flying. One flew so close by Kate that it made her clothing wave. Several ricocheted off the theater wall. One flew back from the wall with decreased speed and hit Kate in the shoulder. She lunged backwards, but stayed on her feet.

"Ow! What the fuck was that?" She asked loudly. I had gotten back to my feet by then so I grabbed Kate and pulled her to the ground. I heard another whistle from above, so I dived on top of Kate. I heard the cry of another bomb getting closer to the earth. I covered Kate and waited until the ball bearings stopped falling around us. I pulled Kate back up to her feet and looked for Amanda.

"These bouncy balls are broken!" whined Amanda. She was holding a ball bearing in her hand. She threw it at the floor and it didn't bounce back. Amanda folded her arms together in annoyance.

I turned back to Kate, and as I did so I heard gunfire erupt from below. I told her to get Amanda inside and away from the windows. I dashed for the roof door and drew a pistol. I tore the door open and jumped back. A zombie stood there growling at me and bleeding from the chest. It outstretched its arms towards me so I fired at almost point blank range into the zombie's skull. It fell backwards and tumbled down the steps. It knocked down another zombie trying to reach the roof. I didn't have to time to wonder what just happened. I bolted down the stairs, put a bullet into the zombie that was trapped under the body, and headed for the gunfire.

"Travis!" I called out. I turned a corner towards the lobby and another zombie was waiting. It got hold of m free arm, but I put my elbow into it's forehead before it could bite my arm. It stumbled backwards and tripped over a bench. As I passed it by, I kicked it in the nose to make sure it stayed down. I kept running towards where I had left Travis, and I saw several zombies wandering where he used to be. I ran past them and tripped over Travis. He pointed his gun at me when I fell next to him. There was a deranged expression on his face, but it almost looked as if he was having fun.

"They're coming out of the ruined theater!" he told me. He fired as a zombie got too close. "I think the rubble might have shifted during these bombings!"

"I'll see what I can do!" I responded. I didn't know what I could do, but I had to stop them. I got up and ran towards the lobby. Travis fired and I could hear one of the zombies fall right behind me.

"Don't need to worry about me! I'll clear out these halls!" he cried out. He started to crawl with his free arm down the hallways. He went out of sight, but I could hear him taunting and shooting at the zombies. I think I even remember him laughing loudly.

Another zombie sprang from hiding as I got near the lobby. I ducked and dove towards the front doors. I grabbed a machine pistol out of the pile of weapons left from last night. I took a shot with it and hit the creature in the eye. It fell onto the floor lined with ball bearings, and I continued to move on towards the theater. I also picked up the broom I had left awhile back. I kept using the pistol on my way towards the theater. I killed five more before finally getting there.

One zombie walked through the door towards me. I raised the pistol to fire, but I hit the zombie in the neck. The slide on the gun locked back. That gun was empty. The zombie still staggered forward towards me. I didn't want to waste any bullets so I took the empty gun and held it tightly. Since the slide locked back, the barrel stood out. I swung the pistol at the zombie, and I managed to stab though it's temple with the pistol. Its growls turned into a gurgle before it fell over. I stepped over it, took out the machine pistol, and pulled the theater door open.

I was greeted with shrieks from the hungry zombies. There were two in a row coming towards me, so I held out the broom. I shoved them backwards slowly. The rubble was still there, but it shifted enough so that a zombie could get through if it was forced in. Another zombie had fallen through, and I ended up holding back three hungry zombies.

The familiar sound of a whistling bomb started calling out from above. I smiled a little and shoved back at the zombies as hard as I could. I took the machine pistol and sprayed at the three as I aimed at eye-level. The three zombies seemed to fall at the same time, and I could see another zombie trying to force its way through the crack in the rubble. Before the bomb hit I smiled and put the gun away. The explosion rocked the building just like the others had. I was used to sudden shifts at my feet by now so I managed to stay standing. I heard the cries of zombies being town apart by ball bearings. I took a step back as the rubble started to move. A giant part of the wall shifted, and the stuck zombie screeched. Half of its body fell through. I was amazed that it still tried to crawl for me. The zombie was split from its shoulder to its ribcage. Even with only one arm it crawled for me. Its head was barely attached to its body. I took the broom and gripped it tightly with both hands. I took a golf swing and knocked the head off, but also broke the broom. I took the broken stick and stabbed through the still living skull.

A cry out in the hallway drew my attention. I carried the stick with the head still attached out with me. Amanda ran by the door as I went back into the hall. She was running towards a zombie. Her arms were outstretched as if to give the thing a hug. I tried to stop her, but it was too late for me. She embraced the zombie, but soon after it tried to bite her head, a gunshot rang out. Amanda screamed, and the zombie fell over.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" yelled Kate as she walked out of a hallway. That thing could have killed you, stupid!"

Amanda was picking pieces of zombie brain from her hair. "My friend just spit on me and took a nap! How rude!" she said as she flicked off a skull fragment. She kicked her sleeping friend and called him a few more names before Kate took her to the bathroom to clean her up.

"How many'd ya get, partner?" asked Travis as he limped towards me.

"Enough...the hole's blocked back up." I told him.

"And what's that? A souvenir?" He pointed at the stick I was carrying and the zombie's head at the end. I held it like a baseball bat and stared at the face attached to it. I turned towards the wall and swung the stick. I could feel the skull smash as it hit the wall. The head on the stick became deformed and blood stared to drip out of it's ear, nose, and mouth. I peeled off the head with my foot, and it was flat as it landed on the floor. "Soupy...can't you just ever kill anything simply?"

"Normally that might make me sick." I started, "But it doesn't. That's what bothers me most about this whole thing. It feels like I'm playing a game or out hunting. Killing people doesn't seem to effect me."

"But they're not people. At least...they're not anymore."

"But they used to be." I pointed at the floppy face at my feet. "That used to be somebody, and I'm at the point where I really don't care anymore. I'll kill them all if I have to, even if I used to know them...even if they used to be family."

Travis began to limp away. "Well this is just loads of fun, but I'm gonna go nurse this wound. You wouldn't happen to have thought an escape yet, would you?" I dropped my head without responding. "Yah I didn't think so. I didn't think of anything either."

I never looked up as he limped off. I didn't feel like thinking anymore. I was tired of working hard without things paying off, but I can't complain. Complaining is the first step towards giving up all hope. I had to stick with it and try to think up a plan for getting out of here. People depended on me. I headed back off to the theater I was in last night. The last question to cross my mind was _Where else could we hide?_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_I could tell that I was tied down to a table. A bright light above me prevented me from seeing what was around me very well. I could hear people moving around me and talking lowly. I kept feeling a chilly metal object press against my bare chest. I shivered a little each time. I could feel my leg being lifted slowly. I tried to pull it back down, but a sharp pain ran up and down my leg. My eyes shot open and I could tell that something was sticking out of my leg. My foot was gone and there was a metal one in its place. I started struggling against the restraints and several hands tried to hold me back down. I could see the faces of what looked like doctors and nurses. One free hand went onto my shoulder and I bit at it. I miss, but it scared them badly. I felt a needle enter my neck and I blacked out._

_I woke up in an empty white room. There was a large one-way window on one wall. The walls were padded, but I thought that was mostly for effect. The room was very bright, but I couldn't tell where the light was coming from. I heard something bang against the window. I tried to attack through the window. I tried to bite and pry my way in, but a voice came over a speaker to stop me. "Calm down," it said. "Relax." I stopped attacking and stood still inside the room. I heard an eruption of joy from behind the window, but I stood confused. The voice came over the speaker again. "You understand! Congratulations! You are the first of a generation of soldiers to fight for your country."_

I woke up with a jump. My gun was drawn and pointing all around. I thought I had heard something moving, but I must have imagined it. I just dropped the weapon to the floor, and I began to examine my surroundings. It was odd that I called this place home. The theater isn't a home. It was more like a giant prison cell in a place where cruel and unusual punishment was allowed. The only problem was that us prisoners didn't even know the crime that kept us here. This place was not a home at all. A home is supposed to be an escape. Home is supposed to be safe. Either way, home or prison, there was no breaking out of here now.

I stood up and started to pace back and forth. I was waiting for the bombings to start up again. The theaters seemed like the safest place as long as a bomb wasn't dropped right on it. I didn't have a watch on me so I didn't know when exactly the raid started, but it seemed to be a little late. I didn't hear anything that signified an attack. I moved closer to the door to check for any noises. I heard a grunting sound, almost like a groaning. I dashed back to where I had dropped my pistol, and by the time I got back to the doors, the sound was closer. I clutched my pistol tightly. I heard a loud thud followed by louder groaning. I took my chance.

I burst out into the hallway to find a sickly looking Travis leaning against a wall nearby. He was groaning and struggling to stand. I tried lifting my arm to take aim, but I just couldn't. I just watched as he bled over the floor. I tried to see where he had been bit. I didn't know how the zombies had gotten in, and I didn't know if Travis was the first to be bitten. I didn't see any teeth marks on him. I started to find it hard to breathe when he got to his feet. Almost as soon as he stood, he fell over.

"This fucking leg!" he cried out loudly. Relief swept over me with a crushing blow. I had to lean against a wall to get a steady breathing rhythm. My heart was beating rapidly, but it started to slow. I put away the gun as Travis rolled over and tried to stand again. He got to his feet and used a nearby garbage can to keep himself standing. "What the hell is your problem? You're not missing a chunk of your leg!" he said.

"I thought you were a damn zombie! I was about to shoot you!" I told him. "What the hell are you even doing?"

Travis grunted as he limped forward, still clutching the garbage. "I was trying to make it to the bathroom."

"Then get a cane or something. You're gonna get yourself killed."

"Fuck that. I can handle it. Think of an escape yet?" he asked as he started to use the garbage as a cane.

I thought for a minute. "We can't stay here. It's gotten more dangerous with the planes. Nowhere is safe for us. Not only do we keep the zombies out, we have to worry about getting nuked. It's too dangerous."

"No shit."

"Anyways I was thinking that we use the same plan as before, but can't we just try running instead? We'd have to at least wait until the number of zombies thinned out first, but we have enough gear to get far enough. If we need to, then we can find more ammo."

Travis was nodding as I talked. When I finished my idea he kept nodding. "That's kind of what I had in mind. Roam the streets, and shack in a larger building when we need to rest. Our food supply is running low here. I love popcorn, but not every damn day. Let's go right now!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? That leg wound must have messed up your brain," I told him. "We can't do it right now. We need to get a map drawn of what we can see right now. After that we'll have to find an actual map. We need to be more prepared this time. We don't have to just follow a river this time. We have the whole city!"

"Well where do you suppose that we go?" he asked. "Last time there was a TV signal, they told us everyone was dead, remember? I really doubt that's changed in the last week."

"But there are planes! There's people out there!"

"Those were Navy planes. They take off from a huge boat in the middle of the ocean. It would be fine if we had a boat. We can't just go out to some boat yard and steal one. Nobody will leave the keys just lying around. That's just-"

"Yah well we can't just go running up to some military base. Looking like we are, they'd think we were just another group of zombies, and that's if anyone is still alive in one." I interrupted. "The same goes for any police station."

"Well how about a hospital?" he asked jokingly. "I could use something a little better than some shirt wrapped around this damn leg. We can go get sponge baths from the pretty nurses and eat lobsters everyday."

He laughed and started to limp away. I just shook my head and folded my arms. Suddenly a thought came to me. "Wait, that's genius!" I shouted. "The hospital. We could all use some sort of medical treatment. There's food at a hospital. There's also radios. We can try to contact somebody from there."

"Right," said Travis. He was quiet for a moment. "I bet the pretty nurses would rather eat us than clean us though. I doubt there's anyone still left a hospital by now. We'll do that then. I'll start drawing a map." He limped off once more. I shouted after him to tell Kate what was going on and that we would leave a week from today. I turned towards the lobby to try to find Amanda and tell her.

It took me a long time to find her. I searched every theater except for the one that had been hit. I searched the bathrooms and the back rooms. Eventually I just decided to check the ruined theater. I pulled out a pistol just to be safe. I opened the door slowly.

Amanda was sitting in front of the rubble. As I got closer I could hear her singing. I couldn't understand what she was singing over the sound of the zombies on the other side of the rubble, but I knew that she was singing to them. I sat down next to her and waited for her to finish. She smiled at me, and I forced one back. Eventually she stopped singing. I was about to speak, but then she started to groan. She sounded like a zombie, but I knew she wasn't.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I learned how to understand them. I can talk to them!" she told me gleefully.

"What are they saying?" I asked her jokingly.

"They're lonely. They're sad. They're bored." she listed off.

"They seem to complain a lot."

"Lately they have," she started. "They're being mean."

I decided to tell her. She seemed to be in a sedated state of mind. "We're going to leave. In one week we're going to go to a hospital."

"The hospital? Is someone sick?" she asked seriously.

"Yes...I'm sick. Travis is sick. Kate is sick. We're all sick. We need to leave." I said.

Amanda sighed deeply and made a pouty face. "Fine."

I got up and just walked away. I didn't want to bother her anymore. Before the door closed behind me, Amanda spoke once more. "No planes today." She was right. There were no planes out today. I had gone up to the roof to see for myself. There were no little black dots in the air or on the horizon. They weren't attacking today. Was there some sort of pattern? Was there two days of bombings followed by two days of rest? Are they attacking another location? Are they late? Is it completely random?

I came out of my questioning to check the progress Travis had made while drawing the map. He had barely started. He had drawn the U-shape theater below us, and a few of the surrounding roads. The parking lot looked a little oddly drawn, but I didn't care as long as I could tell what it was.

"Tell me again," said Kate from behind. "Why are we going to a hospital?"

"Food, medication, contact with other people, showers, possibly new clothes, and plus it's a big building. There's many different entrances so that means we can't get cornered. There will always be an escape." I responded.

"Many entrances for us _and_ these zombies, right?" she asked a little annoyed. "I really don't care anymore. Live, die, it doesn't matter. I know that I can't stay here forever. Do what you have to and I'll try to help." I could tell she was giving up hope. She couldn't picture herself as a survivor in the end of this, but she wanted us to make it. I didn't know what I could say to make her feel better. Honestly I think everyone shared her view. It didn't matter if we made it as long as someone did. Someone had to tell the story.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

_I woke up tied to another table. There were less people around this time and there was no blinding light. I thought there were only three people in the room. There was a large machine buzzing above me. It was scanning me for something. The people in the room were discussing something to each other, but I couldn't understand it. They were using all new words, words created just for me. I tried to say something, but it came out sounding like a pained moan. I couldn't make any logical words or string together a sentence. I panicked and tried to get up. The restraints held me down by my limbs, and a strap ran across my forehead. I kept pulling and broke the strap over my head. I lurched forward and bit towards the doctors. One of the doctors jumped back in fear. I smelt something that made me hungry. It was a new smell, but the scent alone told me that I needed it._

_I struggling against the restraints and my arm broke free. I grabbed the doctor's arm that had jumped back and pulled it towards me. The doctor was in shock and hesitated to pull free. In that moment I sank my teeth into his hand. A shrill cry escaped from him, and he backed away as he clutched his bleeding hand. He knocked over a cart full of sharp tools that scattered all over the floor. One of the other doctors wasn't going to take any chances. He drew a pistol and executed the bleeding doctor. The barrel turned on me next. A shot rang out, but it wasn't from the doctor's gun. A general stood in the doorway with a smoking pistol. It turned towards me as the doctor fell over, bleeding from the chest._

I started to find it much harder to move. I had noticed myself slowing in the past few days, but that day I felt especially weakened. I hadn't eaten real food in such a long time. My body needed some sort of nutrition for fuel. I had the worst craving for meat that I'd ever had. It was one of my bigger reasons for getting out of the theater. This was turning into some sort of reverse Holocaust.

Everything was confusing now. We didn't know if the new plan would work, but we didn't know if the old plan would either. We didn't know where the nearest hospital was, but it seemed like the best place to go for now. It was also somewhere different: a change instead of consistency.

Kate burst though the doors and stormed straight up to me. "So when do we kill Amanda?" she asked simply.

"What?"

"You heard me. Do we kill her now or before we leave?"

"Kate," called Travis from the hallways. "Kate where did you go?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked Kate. "Kill Amanda?"

"We can't take her with," she started. Travis walked into the theater while Kate was talking, but she didn't seem to notice. "She will just slow us down and get us all killed. You saw how she tried to hug that zombie the other day! If that's how she acts to a lone zombie, the whole crowd of them will seem like a parade to her! She'll just be turned into one of them, and then she'll turn on us."

I stared blankly at her. I was looking for signs to tell if she was joking. I watched her eyes and hoped she would tell me that she was kidding. My eyes trailed over to Travis. I was hoping he would stick up for Amanda. I know he heard the last part of Kate's reasoning, and I wanted him to disagree. I didn't get any of these things that I hoped for. Kate just stared back at me seriously. Travis was nodding his head slowly. Words seemed to fail me. I stammered trying to say something.

"She's right." Travis said before I could gain some composure. "Amanda would just get us all killed. We have to do something. I don't want to kill her, but we can't let her turn into one of those things outside." He paused for a minute. I sat down and began to think quickly. "I'll do it." I looked up to Travis as he said this. I didn't have to say anything. He knew that I understood what had to be done. "Unless you want to. I know this is going to be hard for you. I'll give you two days to say your goodbyes."

I looked at the blank screen in front of me. Travis and Kate had left in a hurry. I had never really seriously thought about it before. Amanda had to die. They were right. I had to kill her. Nobody else can do it except for me. If I let Travis or Kate do it then I would always hold it against them that they killed her, but I didn't know if I could do it. I had to do it. I made myself believe that if she lived, everyone would die. I made myself believe that if I killed Amanda, I would be saving Kate and Travis, as well as a future for this world. I grabbed my pistol and stood slowly. I headed for the collapsed theater.

It took me almost an hour just walking down the hall. This was something I didn't want to do, but I had to do it. My mind and my heart kept fighting. I was standing right outside the door and was staring at it. I was breathing heavily. There was no way I could kill her unless I absolutely had to. I started to force myself to believe things that weren't really true. Amanda killed my family. Amanda is the reason we're all stuck here for the rest of our lives. Amanda is just pretending that she didn't do anything wrong to try to fool us. I was on to her evil plan. I was so furious that I cocked the pistol and threw the door open quickly. My arm rose and I pointed the weapon right at her head.

I dropped the gun right away, and I fell to my knees. Her body was curled into a ball, and her head was resting on her arms with her face aimed right at me. I couldn't do it. She was asleep. She was breathing slowly. I had almost fallen in love all over again. Her lips parted slightly, and her hair covered a portion of her face. I wanted to just pick her up and take her back to the way things used to be. Even if we were still trapped in the godforsaken theater for the rest of our lives, I wouldn't have cared as long as she could love me back.

I leaned forward and brushed the hair from her face. She shifted a little bit in her sleep. I just smiled and stood back up. I bent down to grab my pistol and I heard a zombie on the other side of the rubble hiss. I shook my head and brought a finger to my lips, shushing the zombie. I walked out of the theater and sat down right outside the door to guard it.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to a shaking. I drew my pistol and pressed it against their body, not really fully awake. Travis batted my arm away with his free hand and I let the gun fly from my grasp. I looked up, and he was looking disapprovingly back down at me.

"You didn't do it." he told me.

"That's right." I simply stated.

"I'm not going to do it."

"That's right." I challenged.

"Kate would." he argued. "In a heartbeat."

I glared at him. "No she won't. Nobody will." He didn't say anything. I stood up and started to stare each other down. "She's not hurt. She's not been bitten. We don't need to kill her. We-"

"She's going to die anyways!" he interrupted.

"You don't know that!" I snapped at him. "She's not going to die now! Go back and tell Kate that we're just going to leave Amanda behind when the time comes to leave."

"But are we really going to?" he asked, not fully believing me. I didn't say anything. We stayed toe-to-toe just staring at each other angrily. Travis shook his head and turned to leave. Halfway down the hall he turned around to face me. He said one last thing before heading back up to the roof. "You know you can't leave her here. You won't let her become one of those things. You tell Kate."

I turned to grab my gun off the floor before storming towards the roof. The sunlight hurt my eyes on first contact. It was a very sunny day and the sky was clear. The air was warm, and it also felt fresh. These several weeks of trucks and factories not being able to pollute the air has done wonders. Kate was sitting on the edge of the roof. She turned at the sound of the door.

"Is Amanda a carcass yet?" she asked carelessly.

I tried to hold back my anger. "No." I said simply. I spoke again quickly before she could interrupt me with any rant. "Not yet. We don't need to do it yet. We're just going to leave her behind when we leave. Nobody will have to kill her." I paused when I saw something in Kate's hand. "Is that the map? Let me see."

Kate stuck the map out to me, but as I reached out for it, we all froze. A familiar sounds was growing above us. The map fell from Kate's hand as her mouth fell open. The map floated slowly to the floor of the rooftop. As it landed, an explosion went off on the street. The three of us started to run to the door to get back inside. Another explosion hit a small near by building. Travis got to the door first, but he looked back at me when we got there.

"The map!" he shouted. I skidded across the gravel as I tried to stop myself so I could turn around. Kate and Travis went back inside as I went for the map. It was near the edge of the roof where Kate had dropped it. An explosion went off near the theater, and I dove for the map. I stayed down till the ball bearings stopped flying. I sprang back to my feet and headed back to the door. Another bomb exploded as I got back to the door. I stepped inside and slammed the door. As soon as it clicked shut, ball bearings clattered against it.

I sat on the bottom step with Travis and Kate. They both looked a little shaken, but I was a little annoyed. The map was wrinkled and dirty. It was still in one piece, but it was harder to read. Kate snatched it from my hands before I got a good look at it, and Travis balled his hands into fists.

"What the hell?" he screamed. "Is it all random or something?"

"Maybe they go by two days of bombing and one day of rest." I thought aloud.

"And maybe it's all fucking random!" he yelled back. We just sat tight for awhile, trying to maintain our balance until (what seemed like hours) it was finally over again. Travis was the first to stand. "I'm going to see how much fucking 'help' they did us this time." Kate and I followed right behind him.

Travis had to kick the rooftop door to get it to open. He stepped out into the open and surveyed the damage. Half of a nearby building had crumbled. Other than that, not a whole lot was damaged. Kate took the map out and started to make changes. I finally got to see how the map looked. It seemed that Kate took over because she was the better artist. She had drawn every street straight, and all the roads came together nicely, although some were missing names. She had drawn every building in sight.

"That's the bowling alley." she said while pointing to each building. "There's the Denny's here. The gas station across the street and part of the highway over there. Some small businesses that I don't know the names of, and an Off Track Betting place down the street."

"Are any of these helpful?" I asked her.

Travis answered for her. "Well if we had known what those little businesses were, then maybe, but most of those are on fire right now, so no. The gas station is our best bet. There's bound to be a map in there somewhere. The only problem is that we're leaving out the back and the gas station is across the street in front of the theater. There would be a tough fight to get there, but we need a map if we ever want to get to a hospital."

I nodded. "That's true. We'll just have to fight our way over there somehow." We were all silent for a little while. "Tomorrow we'll draw up an escape plan to get out of here. The day after that we'll have to figure out what we're going to do once we get to the hospital. We've got a lot of work to do. You guys should get some rest."

I left the roof slowly and slumped down the stairs. I was going to head back to where I usually slept, but I decided to be with Amanda for the night. When I entered the theater she had been in, she was asleep. I didn't know if she had been asleep the whole time or if she had fallen back to sleep after the bombings. It didn't really matter to me. I sat next to her in the cramped hall and listened to her breathing. One of her arms was outstretched towards me. I grabbed her hand lightly and held it. Before I fell asleep I thought I felt her hand tighten against mine.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_I stood in a hallway. Noises and lights were going on and off all around me. I was all alone. An alarm was sounding and a light was spinning on the wall. I could taste blood in my mouth, and I could feel it running warmly down my chest. A nurse ran out of a room, not noticing me. I jumped on her back as she passed and knocked her to the floor. Her screams were ended as I sank my teeth into her neck. I tasted more blood, and I let the woman die slowly. I got up and saw a shadow move at the end of the hall. My eyes opened wide, and I began to run. I knocked over stretchers and trays. I screeched at the shadow, and I heard screams erupt from the end of the hall. Footsteps echoed, and I kept following the shadow down different halls until it stopped._

_I finally turned a corner and saw a group of people staring back at me. These people were men and women, children and elderly, sick and healthy, and they were all unarmed. Some of them had bandages around various parts of their body. I smiled, and drool and blood fell from my mouth. I moved slowly towards them. The children whimpered and called for their parents. The older men hid the children behind them. Some of the women were comforting the children. I could seem to get one word out of my brain: Delicious. One of the men stepped forward, challenging me. The man took a stance, and I stared him down. A few silent moments passed with no movement. Finally I dove at the man. I aimed for the neck. He closed his eyes and screamed while I was in midair._

I woke up and was happy to see that Amanda was still with me. There was a knock on the door and Travis entered. He told me to come out into the hall. I stroked Amanda's hand before placing it down gently. I stood and smoothed myself off as best as I could. Travis and Kate were standing there waiting for me. Kate stepped forward holding the map in her hand.

"We're done with the map...or at least we think we are. We wanted you to check it out and see if you had anything to add," she said slowly. "We have a whole route planned. We wanted to show you. Come to the roof."

"Alright," I answered. "Let me just get Amanda. She hasn't had any fresh air in awhile." Kate sighed as I turned around, but they waited for us. Amanda was still asleep on the floor where I left her. I knelt down next to her and gave her a little shake. She groaned and lifted her head. She opened her eyes slowly, and I smiled to her. "Come on," I urged her. "Let's get out of here. You need some air."

Amanda sprang to her feet quickly. She was instantly awake. Her eyes were wide and she seemed to be very excited. "Yah!" she screamed joyfully. She ran out of the broken theater quickly. I went after her, but she was moving fast. She headed for the lobby, and Travis and Kate started to follow me. When we got to the lobby, Amanda was trying to pull away the barricades we had set up on our first day. They had become weak from the bombings.

At first we just stood there watching her. We had gotten so used to the fact of security inside the theater, we forgot that those barricades were the only things keeping death at bay. "No!" the three of us screamed at her once we finally came to our senses. Travis ran straight for the pile of weapons. Kate went after Amanda to try to stop her, but she kept slipping on the ball bearings along the way. Amanda managed to pull one of the movie displays away during this hesitation. The glass was broken on the other side, and the zombies started to flood the building.

"Come on, guys!" Amanda yelled to them. "We're getting out of here!" Kate was trying to push back the display into place, but the entering zombies over-powered her. She gave up and ran back to Travis. Travis wanted to fight them off, but I knew we had no chance. I started to pile the weapons into the duffel bag along with the ammunition. Travis had grabbed a pistol and an assault rifle. The zombies filled in quickly now. I saved the last pistol for myself and started to use it.

A scream stopped me. Amanda had been grabbed by the zombies. I saw four of them just grabbing whatever they could get their hands on. One was biting her arm, and another had sunk his teeth into her thigh. A third was attacking her neck. She was screaming in pain and desperation. I raised my pistol and took aim. I fired a single shot without hesitation right at her face. The bullet went straight through her eye and stuck into the body of a zombie behind her. I turned around and didn't look back.

"Let's go!" I shouted. Travis couldn't hear me over the sound of gunfire. We were being overrun. I grabbed his collar and got him to move. I went for Kate next. We all started running towards the back door of the theater. Travis limped as usual as he led the way with Kate close behind. They knew the plan, but I didn't. The zombies filled the theater like the opening day of a big movie. Kate was starting to panic, but I kept pushing her forward. She kept getting lost, even though we had been at the theater for three weeks.

We finally made it to the heavy backdoor by the generator. The zombies weren't far behind. Travis kicked the door open and stormed out. No zombies were around outside. They must have made their way to the front. I pushed Kate out before leaving. I slammed the door behind me and the three of us waited for a moment.

"Fuck!" Travis managed to say between breaths. "We just have to stay put for a little while until all these damn things jam themselves in." We all waited in silence. Kate was shaking nervously as Travis made sure she was not bit. I noticed that his wound had started to bleed from running on it. It must have torn open. A zombie's face appeared in the small window of the backdoor. Travis looked to me then nodded. He took Kate's hand and placed it on his shoulder to lead her. "Let's go," he ordered softly.

We started to sneak along the edge of the theater. We headed away from the crumbled room to make sure that the zombies in that room didn't see us and start to chase. The fear running through me didn't even allow me to feel the difference between fresh air on the roof and fresh air from outside the theater walls. So far it was silent. So far we were lucky. We need to get to the gas station and see if we could find a map. We only had one chance. There was no way we could go back to the theater if something went wrong.

Travis stuck his head around the corner, and he quickly let out a slow, quiet breath. He crept quietly around the corner and out of sight. Kate followed him close by. I took in a large breath and stepped around the corner. The bag full of weapons followed me. I had my pistol aimed ahead of me.

No zombies were in sight, but they could still be heard. They must have filled into every theater, every hall, and every other room that we had been familiar with for the past couple weeks. The rest, we assumed, were all packed by the entrance. Travis move a little faster, but he was still careful to make sure he didn't step on any twigs or broken glass. We didn't want to draw any attention to us. Every step we took forward brought a small twinge of relief and grief at once.

The gas station was barely in sight now. It was within reach on any ordinary day, but times had not been ordinary for a long, long time. By the time we got to the next corner - the one leading towards the entrance to the theater - we were all sweating a little bit. It could have been out of fear or nervousness, but we hadn't traveled very far and the day was not too sunny.

Travis looked slowly past the corner and quickly withdrew his head. He looked at us and nodded with widened eyes. "_What now?_" he whispered to me. I looked back at him confused. "_We never got a chance to really plan this far ahead. Do we run for it or do we try to sneak by?_"

We all paused for a moment. If we tried to sneak by, we might be able to get by unnoticed. If we just ran then at least we had a head start if things got out of control. The sky seemed to darken very quickly during our debate. Large, heavy clouds rolled over us and took away the light from the sun. A raindrop landed on my cheek. There was a brief pause before the rain started to pour very heavily from above. We all looked at one another and realized that this was luck.

Travis spun quickly and ran towards the gas station. Kate followed right behind. I took a short pause before springing into the open myself. I tried not to look at the zombies. I focused on the gas station. I felt the cool rain hit my face, and I tried to avoid the puddles already beginning to form from the intense weather. I leapt over a large puddle, but the bag around my shoulder threw off my weight and my foot slipped when I landed. I fell forwards and my knee landed in a puddle. I heard a loud screech from the theater.

I turned back to look, but the rain was coming in so fast that it was hard to see anything clearly. The wind picked up very heavily so it was loud as well. I thought I heard a voice. I was afraid to move. I was disoriented from the fall. I didn't know which way was towards the theater and which led safely to the gas station. The wind howled as it sped past, and I couldn't see an inch in front of me.

I felt a hand grab me by the collar. The rain was blinding me. I couldn't get a good shot off. I felt warm breath on my neck and I swallowed deeply.

"Let's go!" Travis yelled in my ear. He pulled me to my feet and spun me in the right direction. I took a few clumsy steps forwards, but I began to run shortly after. I heard Kate screaming for us to hurry.

Travis was holding onto my sleeve, leading me like a blind man. The rain was still blinding my eyes, but I could tell that we were nearing a building. Travis was still pulling me along. I saw a flash of bright light, and I blacked out.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_I sat quietly in the middle of a pile of dead bodies. I didn't want to eat anymore. I was full. I actually felt sick to my stomach. It may have been the site of the chewed up bodies that made me sick, or it might have been the smell that hung in the air. Then again it could have been the taste of them that did it for me. I belched loudly and tasted stale blood on my lips. That didn't help the feeling in y stomach. I didn't want to get up. I may have been too full, or it may have been the fact that some of the bodies were lying across me. Either way I didn't really feel like moving at all. I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep._

_I woke up to a bump. I was inside of a truck and surrounded by dead bodies. They were packed around me and above me. They must have thought I was dead as well. The truck was taking us to a dump where contaminated bodies were stored. The bodies all fell gracefully and clumsily out of the truck into a large hole. The workers were not paying attention as I stood up. I looked around and saw a tunnel carved into the wall at the bottom of the hole. I entered slowly and began to move forward. A burning heat on my back made me turn. The pile of bodies had been lit on fire._

A damp, cool cloth kept pressing against my forehead. I couldn't move much, and there was a throbbing pain of a large headache. My entire back was wet, along with my legs. I opened my eyes slowly after hearing dripping water echo all around me.

We were somewhere dark. I didn't recognize the place because my brain, as well as my eyes, was still trying to focus. Kate was pressing the wet cloth on my head, but she stopped when I sat up. I got immediately dizzy so I lied back down slowly. I brought a hand to my head and sighed. I let the hand drop clumsily shortly after. I heard a splash as my hand fell into water instead of hitting a hard surface.

"Where are we?" I asked groggily.

"The sewers," answered Travis simply. I couldn't see him, but his voice bounced all around me. I thought he might have been sitting on the other side of Kate.

"What are we doing in the sewers?" I asked him.

"Do you see any zombies down here?"

"I don't see anything."

"Well at least you're alive," said Kate. "We didn't know if you had died. We weren't sure whether we should have dragged you along or left you there."

"Well I'm glad you took me along," I started. I was still confused. "What happened?"

"Well it was pretty hectic," Travis started. "But I'll try to make sense of it all. I guess I should have directed you a little better towards the gas station. I ran in without looking back, and I accidentally made you run into the door. I'm assuming that's where the giant lump came from."

"Giant lump?" I brought a hand to my forehead and winced in pain as I felt it. "You can see it even in this darkness?"

"Um...no. Of course not," Travis answered. Kate laughed lightly. "We've also got a couple more problems."

"We always do," I stated.

"Well while I was dragging you, the sack of weapons was barely attached to your shoulder. We dragged you into a back room. Kate was just grabbing at everything she could reach along the way. Want some beef jerky?"

I heard a splash near me. I felt around in the water till I grabbed a plastic wrapper. I quickly tore it open and devoured the meat inside.

"We thought we were trapped back there," continued Travis. "Whoever owned the place must have liked to stay there. A cot was set up with a TV and a miniature fridge. As I was looking around, Kate was blasting away. Right after I noticed that the floor sounded hollow as we walked over it. I lifted the cot a bit and saw a door. I threw the cot towards the front of the store at the zombies and opened the door as fast as I could. I grabbed you and tried to pull you, but the bag of weapons was caught on something. I kept trying to pull until the bag ripped open. I sent you into the hole first."

"So we lost some guns?" I asked still savoring the taste of the beef,

"We lost most guns. All we have now are what we're carrying. A few boxes of ammunition fell in here with you, but I bet they're all swept away." Travis paused. I could hear a wrapper being torn open.

"So then what happened?" I asked him.

He spoke with a mouthful of food. "Well Kate climbed in before me. I had to keep shooting to keep the horde back. I climbed down right after she did. I know you can't tell, but this tunnel had a steep climb down. I was closing the door at the top when suddenly an arm came through. I was holding onto the wheel lock handle thankfully because my feet slipped off the rails. The door slammed on the zombie's arm. I kept bouncing with my feet dangling in midair. I heard the zombie's arm crunching as the door repeatedly slammed on it. It either withdrew its arm or the door severed it off because before I knew it, I was falling."

"I had to jump out of the way and move you out from under the ladder," Kate chimed in.

"Thankfully," said Travis to Kate. "Or else I would have crushed him instead of breaking my leg."

The tunnel went silent. It didn't register to me at first as I was still savoring the taste of food. Suddenly it clicked. "Wait a minute," I spoke up. "You broke your leg?"

"Yah," Travis answered grimly.

"Which one?"

"My good one." He answered as if he were dieing. "Now I have a broken leg and a leg with a missing piece. I better be sure to protect my arms." He tried to force a laugh, but it didn't work very well. It sounded more like a hopeless sigh.

There was another long pause. We sat in silence apart from drops of water echoing through the tunnel. Travis would be able to move, but not very fast or for long periods of time. He already was walking with a limp, but now he would have to limp with both legs.

Travis broke the silence first. "Good thing we're going to a hospital."

I laughed lightly. "That's a good point." There was another pause before a thought occurred to me. "Hey, what about a map? Did we ever manage to get one?"

"Yah," Kate said slowly. "I grabbed one."

"Well that's good," I said unenthusiastically. I rested my head against the tunnel wall behind me.

"Well it would be good," started Kate. "If we were in Rhode Island."

I closed my eyes and sighed. I almost didn't care. "What?" I asked.

"Well it was chaos up there!" Kate exclaimed. "I had to grab whatever was in reach! I didn't have time to look at labels. I just wanted to live."

"So let me get this straight..." I began. I sighed again and sat up. "Travis is limited to minimal amounts of movement. We have no way of getting food except for going back the way we came, which is not going to happen. We have a map of a state that we don't even reside in, let alone I'm sure any of us has ever even been to. We have a hand drawn map of a small chunk of a huge city. Neither map would help us anyways because we're stuck in the sewers like mole people. On top of that, a map of these tunnels would be useless anyways because it's too dark to see your own fucking fingers! Not to mention our weaponry was greatly decreased. Am I missing anything?"

"No that sounds about it," answered Travis.

"Well that's good," I said with a laugh. I settled down quickly and leaned against the wall again. "What's our plan now then?"

"How about shutting the hell up?" called a voice I didn't recognize.

There was a brief moment of silence. Nobody said anything, and I thought I had gone crazy. "Who the hell was that?" I asked loudly.

"Oh wait, there was something we forgot," started Kate. "We forgot to mention one last thing. Travis and I wondered why a gas station would have an entrance into the sewers. It turns out, the manager was hiding down here."

"Greetings!" called the manager. "The name's Paul, but you can call me Paul."

"Uh...it's nice to meet you...Paul," I answered. "I'd shake your fuckin' hand if I could see it."

"That's alright," he stated. "You can honor me in the morning when the light shines in."

"Light?" I asked.

"Did I stutter?" he asked. "You know what light is, don't you? I'm sure you're heard of it before unless the youth of this nation is dumber than I thought. It's that stuff that makes things bright. You know what 'bright' means, don't you?"

"I know what light is. I just can't imagine any shining through here."

"Take my word for it: It'll be bright enough in here."

"So how long have you been hiding down here?" I asked.

"Ah, I already told these chumps, so I suppose you can hear my legacy as well," he began. "I knew this would happen someday. I never though it would happen during my lifetime. When I was a little boy, my dad taught me all types of cultures. He was a traveler and had a keen interest in the Haitian religion of Voodoo. He took me there once to witness the practices first hand."

"Voodoo?" I asked unbelieving.

"I know I didn't stutter that time."

"I know what Voodoo is before you try to explain it," I said quickly. "But I didn't know that it was widely practiced still."

"Well I'm sure there's a lot you don't know," Paul said shortly. "I saw men rise from the grave. These were done under very controlled environments though. They were killed again almost instantly. It was a great sight."

I laughed. "So Voodoo is the cause of this? Great."

"No," Paul said slowly. "This is worse than just Voodoo. This is not normal at all. This also has a touch of evil to go along with it. Someone had to have unleashed this monster. My father always told me 'Within the Voodoo society, there is no such thing as an accident.' When I grew older, I kept myself prepared. I opened up the floor in the back room here. I always made an escape for myself, just in case. I always carried a trench spike with me also."

"What's that?" Kate asked.

"It's pretty much just a pair of brass knuckles with a knife sticking out the bottom," answered Travis. "It makes sense. If you ever get in a tight spot you could punch somebody to stun them, then, if need be, stab them in the head. The blade would never get stuck in the skull, and since the handle is wrapped around your fingers, you can pull the knife out of anything easily."

"Well at least somebody knows something in this hole," cheered Paul.

"I've got a question for you," I posed to Paul.

"That doesn't surprise me."

"If you're so well prepared, I'm sure you had more of a plan than just hiding in a puddle until this all goes away, right?"

"Well of course," answered Paul. "I had only ever planned on a small scale attack. This thing took the whole damn world. I planned to move alone, it would be easier, but now I'd rather help you folks out. I fear we might be the last ones still roaming."

"That's a frightening thought," said Kate.

Travis coughed. "Well if we're the only ones left, it would be our job to get rid of all these things. That could take years."

"Well of course it would," answered Paul angrily. "We can't do what they do. Nothing happens if a human bites a zombie except for a bad taste. We couldn't recruit anyone. It's not easy killing the whole world."

"So what was your plan after you realized it was more serious?" I asked Paul.

"Well I knew that going to a military base was out of the question," he started. "They'd end up shooting me out of self-defense. A police station would also be a bad choice. Too many people would flock there looking for help. A hospital is a terrible pick as well."

I hear Kate and Travis shift position. I spoke up for them. "What's wrong with a hospital?"

"Are you serious?" he asked angrily. "Did that bump make you mentally retarded or something? A hospital would be the worst place to go! Where would they take all the wounded bite victims during the opening hours of the attack? The doctors would just believe it was citizen unrest on the streets. Large groups of people would just be lying around and waiting to turn into one." He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "Why? Don't tell me you were planning on heading for one!"

"Well..." I started slowly. "Maybe we were, but a hospital wouldn't be a bad place now, would it?"

"I suppose not," he answered. "Anyone bitten there would have turned long ago. There's food there, and we can get some medicine for you all."

"We can get a radio too," Kate said. "So we can try to contact somebody."

"You all still believe there's someone out there to contact?" Paul asked.

"We didn't know that you were here, but we found you. It wouldn't hurt to try! It's better than sitting around and waiting for a solution to fall in your lap." I told him.

"Wouldn't hurt to try, eh?" he asked. "How many survivors were originally in your group?"

"Five." I told him.

"And how many of you are there now?" he asked Kate.

"Three." she answered gloomily.

"Wouldn't hurt to try, eh?" he questioned to Travis. "How does your leg feel?"

"It hurts." he answered angrily.

"That's right!" Paul exclaimed. "But it didn't hurt to try, right?"

I was lucky the tunnels were dark or else he would have seen my angry glare. "Are you afraid?" I asked him through clenched teeth.

"Me? Scared?" He laughed loudly at the thought. "I have no fear. I just don't quite know if you all are worthy of my help. I can navigate these tunnels on night darker than this. Frankly, this surviving business is boring me. I want to see some action!"

"Then help us," I offered. "None of us know this area at all. Just get us to the hospital. You don't even have to think of it as if you're helping us. Just pretend we're following you along."

"And what's in it for me?" he asked selfishly. "No favors come free in life."

"You want money?" Travis yelled, startling the rest of us. "What the fuck good will money do you at a time like this?"

"I never said I wanted money, you ignorant simpleton!"

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" Travis threatened.

"Oh really?" said Paul. "With which leg?"

Travis growled angrily, but he said no more after that. I was burning in rage, and I could tell that Kate had stiffened up.

"I'll help you," stated Paul, breaking the hostile tension. "It is my duty as god. All I want in return is the thrill of the hunt. I don't even want to be rescued. I'd fare much better on my own anyways. I don't want to be your babysitter."

"You don't have to be so mean," Kate said quietly.

"I'm not being mean, I'm being honest!" Paul yelled back at her. "Now we'll move out tomorrow morning. I suggest you all get some sleep. You should know by now that these things don't get tired. They somehow ignore fatigue and any form of tiredness. We need to save our strength."

The tunnel was once again silent except for the echoes of dripping water.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

_The smell of those burning bodies was getting to me already. I needed to get out. I found a ladder in the tunnel. It led to the surface. I didn't know why they had this put here, but it was just going to be convenient for me. I climbed slowly, starting to find it hard to bend my legs. I soon reached the top. I poked my head up and looked around. I could see three men. Two of them were facing away from me and staring into the hole as the bodies burned. The third man was on the opposite end of the truck relieving himself of liquid. I smiled and climbed to my feet._

_I went for the two men standing near the hole. They were laughing at the bodies burning. I could see barely past them. The entire hole seemed to be burning. I started running at them quickly. I shoved them both from behind. They both stumbled forward into the hole. The flames engulfed their bodies and they began to scream. I moved to the edge of the truck quickly. The third man heard the screams of the dieing other men. He rushed over to try to help a situation out of his control. As he looked on in horror, I snuck up from behind and shoved him in as well._

A drop of water on my forehead woke me. My eyes opened slowly, and another drop of water landed on my forehead. The tunnel was now lit. It was still a little dark, but now we could see. Another drop of water on my forehead brought my attention to the top of the tunnel. A crack had formed, and water dripped from it like an unintentional form of Chinese water torture.

I saw up and rubbed my eyes. My hand went immediately to my neck as a pain shot through me. I was cramped up from the uncomfortable position. I was cold from having to sleep in water. I was also hungry. Having finally tasted meat made me want more. I heard a groan from next to me as Travis sat up.

"Kinda makes you miss the theater a little bit," he joked groggily. He brought his hands to his head and bent it to the side. I heard his neck crack loudly. He turned his head the other direction and it popped loudly again.

"Gross," said Kate as she sat up.

"But it feels so good," answered Travis. "Makes me forget about my legs for a little while."

"On your feet, chumps!" yelled Paul. He was already up and ready to go. He had his weapons with him, and they were loaded. I stood slowly. My head still hurt from the bump. I was checking the weapons that had stayed on my body when Kate stood. She stretched and started to check out a pistol. Travis attempted to stand for the first time since he broke his leg.

Travis used the walls of the tunnel as support. He refused any help from us. He became red in his face as he struggled to lift himself to his feet. Eventually he was up, and his breathing had accelerated quickly. I finally got to see the damage. The leg which had been torn open from a ball bearing was covered in blood. A white rag that had been tied there previously was now a dark red. It was hard for me to believe that it was his good leg now. His broken leg looked normal. The bones had not punctured the skin. Even though it looked normal, he tried to keep most of his weight off of it.

I stepped over to him and put one of his arms around my shoulder to help support him. Kate came over as well to support his other side. His guns hung from a strap around his neck. I took a pistol and placed it in his hand around my shoulder.

"You ready?" asked Paul impatiently. We all looked at him and nodded. "Well then let's get a move on!" Paul led the way with an automatic rifle. He had a flashlight with him, but it was going to remain off until dark. Travis had to move slowly. He only tried to walk on his 'good' leg. Most of the journey was filled with communication.

"How far is the hospital from here?" Kate asked.

"Oh for..." Paul began. "Don't be one of those whiney kids. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? I gotta go to the bathroom!'"

"She was just asking a simple question," Travis responded angrily. "We're all wondering the same thing."

"It's not that far," Paul stated. "But we won't get there until nighttime because of you and your speedy movements."

"What the hell is your problem?" Travis asked.

"My problem is that I don't believe this thing will end until everyone is dead," Paul explained. "I was ready to blast myself until you bastards dropped in on me."

"You don't have to help us," Kate told him.

"Sure I do," said Paul. "I don't want the bad karma on my soul. Besides, I thought everyone was dead. Apparently I was wrong. The odds that we're the last people left on earth are heavily against us, but I'm a gambling man. I'd say this ends when we all die."

The tunnel opened up into a large room. There were five different openings besides the one we just came out of. Paul chose one quickly as if he knew these tunnels by heart. Kate and I had a little trouble getting Travis up into the right tunnel. By the time we were back onto our feet, Paul was a long way ahead of us.

"Hey!" I called after him. "Slow down! Wait for us!" My voice echoed loudly through our concrete surroundings.

"Speed up!" he called back.

"What a dick," Travis said quietly as we tried to move faster to catch up with him.

"Something is wrong with this guy," Kate thought aloud. "Living this long alone must have messed with his brain. He's very paranoid."

We managed to catch back up to Paul eventually. He had stopped at another large opening of tunnels to wait for us. We helped Travis to the opening, but he let go of us once we arrived. I turned to see that he sat down to rest.

"What are you doing?" asked Paul impatiently.

"Taking a break," Travis answered simply. Kate sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"And what the hell are you doing?" Paul asked Kate.

"Take a guess," she told him.

Paul turned towards me and glared. I was still on my feet. After staring back at him for awhile, I moved towards Kate and Travis. I leaned against the wall and slid down next to Travis.

"Resting," I answered Paul before he could even ask the question.

Paul turned his back to us and began to swear under his breath. I saw that his fists were clenched. He began to pace back and forth angrily while shaking his head.

"Why are you so angry?" asked Kate.

"I just want to do this and get it over with," Paul responded angrily. "I don't feel safe when I'm away from my home."

"The gas station?" she asked.

"Yes the fucking gas station!" yelled Paul. "I've been there since this outbreak and I just want to go back!"

"Is that all?" I asked.

"What the hell do you mean 'is that all'?" he shot back.

"Well we're going through the same thing right now, but we're still pushing on. We've been at that theater about three weeks, and I'm sure none of us has ever been here in our lives." I explained.

Paul slowed down a little. "How are you all staying so calm?"

"I think we've just been through too much to be surprised by anything anymore," I answered. I looked to Travis and Kate. They nodded in agreement. "We've lost a lot of people in this past month: Friends, family, loved ones-" I stopped. I realized I hadn't even thought of Amanda since the day we left.

Kate spoke up for me. "I don't think anything can be worse than what we've already gone through."

I didn't speak. I couldn't get my head straight. My mind wrapped around the memory of shooting her. I knew I had to do it. I couldn't let her turn into one of those evil things. There was too much good in her heart for me to allow her to become corrupt. I was doing a good thing, even though I had to sacrifice my greatest joy in life. As I was contemplating what happened, Travis and Kate had explained the whole situation to Paul.

"That's rough," he said. There was a brief pause before Paul turned into his old self. "Enough of this crap! We have to keep moving now if any of you cretins want to live. Get on your feet now and let's move on." We sat and stared at Paul for a moment, wondering why he had a sudden change in personality. "Get up!" he yelled at us.

I stood up and brushed myself off. "Let's just go," I said to Kate and Travis. I grabbed Kate's extended hand and helped her up. We each grabbed Travis by the arms and helped him up. He hobbled a little, but soon we were ready to start moving again. Paul watched us over his shoulder the whole time.

Paul turned and took a step towards one of the tunnel entrances. It was pitch black in that tunnel. No light seemed to be able to enter. Paul entered and took out his flashlight. Kate and I helped Travis over to the entrance. We lifted him up a little easier than last time. Paul waited for us.

By the time we got back on our feet, Paul turned on the flashlight. He attached it to a holder on his waist so that he could keep hold of his rifle. As Kate, Travis, and I followed, we could only see the direction Paul was facing. As for Paul, we could only see his silhouette.

We moved slowly. Nobody talked this time. We focused on what we could see ahead of us. The usual sounds of dripping water were accompanied by splashes from footsteps and the heavy breathing coming from Travis. I noticed that Paul was shaking his head. I thought he was saying something, but I couldn't tell what it was. He began to speak louder and louder.

"Those fucks," he said to himself. "They think they're better than me. They think they can outsmart me. I'm on to them. Oh, I'm way ahead of their game. I know all they want to do is kill me. That's been their plan since they dropped into my space."

"Paul?" asked Kate.

"No!" he yelled out loud to himself. "I won't let them get me! I'll get them first! They'll never see it coming!"

Paul wasn't making sense at all. I finally understood when I saw him drop his rifle. I saw his outline draw a pistol. As the weapon came out, it knocked the flashlight out of its holder. I fell forward and pulled Travis and Kate down with me. The light faced away from everyone. An eruption of gunfire followed. I could hear two separate pistols firing simultaneously.

The tunnel went silent after about ten shots. The smell of sulfur surrounded us all. I knew I hadn't been hit, but I also wasn't the one to draw a pistol. I wasn't sure about anyone else. I crawled forward, scrambling for the flashlight. It took me a few times to actually grab it. I spun around and shone the light back at everyone else.

Paul was turned and facing me. I tried to reach for my pistol, but I noticed his hands were empty. His shirt was turning a dark red. He finally fell dead at my feet. I stood up and looked beyond Paul. Kate was helping Travis to his feet. I went over to them.

"Are you two alright?" I asked quickly.

"Yah," answered Travis. "Twitchy little bastard had terrible aim. Thanks for the gun."

"I'm alright too," said Kate. "I'm alright."

We walked up to Paul's body. I shone the light at his back. We could see the exit wounds from the gun fired by Travis. Kate shook her head slowly. Travis kicked Paul's body, but he quickly grabbed his leg in pain afterwards.

"Come on," I urged them. "Let's figure out where we are."

I picked up Paul's weapons and hung them from my body. I threw an arm from Travis around my shoulder and we moved further into the darkness, but this time we had to guide. I held the light as steady as possible, but it was shaky from having to support Travis at the same time.

After a short while, we reached a dead end. Travis fell over again to rest. Kate sat with him. I looked all around with the light. This area didn't seem very different from any other. The light found a metal bar sticking out from a wall. I shone the light a little upwards. Another bar was there. I shone the light to the top. The bars formed a ladder, and a door was at the top.

"Wait here," I told Travis and Kate as I continued to look at the door. "I won't be far."

I climbed quickly towards the top. The bars were extremely cold and wet. My feet kept slipping, but I hung on. I reached the top and gripped the wheel handle. I could tell the lock was rusted shut after years of water damage.

I turned the wheel, but it didn't budge. I tried a little harder, but nothing happened. I used both hands and turned as hard as I could. I could hear the rust cracking, but the wheel stayed in place. Just as I was about to give up, the wheel gave way first. The lock came undone with a loud noise.

I pushed the door up slowly. As I peered out, I found myself looking at another dark room. I brought my flashlight out to see. The room was square, and at the top was a manhole cover. I pushed the door open all the way and climbed in.

The room wasn't very large, but the walls were damp and stained. My attention immediately went to the manhole cover. I pushed up on it, and it moved easily. It looked new. I had to stand on my toes to peer out. I first saw sunlight. I then noticed that the manhole was in the middle of the street. There was an overturned car nearby, but I didn't see a hospital. I turned around slowly and there it was. Down the street the hospital stood out like a majestic finish line.

I climbed back down to Travis and Kate. "The jerk was honest. He led us to the hospital."

"Are there any zombies?" asked Travis

"Not a single one in sight," I answered. "But we'll still need to be careful. It's a little bit of a walk from here."

"Then we'll move tomorrow," said Travis. "I'm too tired to move anymore today."

"Just think," laughed Kate. "This will all be over tomorrow!"

I smiled and turned away. "We can only hope."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

_I was roaming the streets of an empty city. I had killed those workers after climbing up a ladder in that tunnel. Now I had wandered into this city. There was paper thrown all over the streets most of it seemed like newspapers telling of outbreaks occurring. Cars had crashed into buildings, and a few bullet-riddled bodies - though not possible to tell if they were zombies or caught in the crossfire - were all that was left populating the town. I was moving slowly past a strip mall. As I was by a television store, one of them came on. I turned to view a reporter with bandage wounds around his head._

"_Is it on?" he asked someone off the screen. "Does it still work? Okay. If anybody is watching this, please listen. My name is Kyle. I'm not a reporter, just a survivor. I'm with several military officials, and they wanted me to broadcast this message worldwide: We have won. The zombies have been eliminated. They want you to stay indoors for just two more days so that they can get rid of any small stray packs. They're taking me off the air now. Good luck everyone." The screen went blank, and shortly after, the message repeated itself. I walked away angrily and hissed loudly._

I was the first one awake. I stood up and stretched. I had left the door at the top of the tunnel open so a little light came in. I saw Travis and Kate sleeping. Kate was holding Travis tightly and resting her head on his shoulder. I smiled and walked around a little bit.

I decided to check the surface again. I climbed the ladder to the manhole and looked out. I was actually surprised to find the hospital still there. I still didn't believe this was almost over. I climbed back down to join Kate and Travis.

Kate was awake by now. She had stood up and stretched. Travis was awake as well, but he saved his energy and remained sitting.

"Good morning," said Kate cheerfully. "I want to see this for myself if you don't mind." I moved out of the way and looked towards Travis.

"Oh I'll look later," he told me.

I sat down next to him as Kate climbed up and out of sight. Travis handed me another package of jerky.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

There was a brief silence. "So we're almost done," I said.

"Yah," he answered. "It's weird."

"It is. What do you think will happen if we get rescued?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything. Do you think it's weird to kind of be sad about this?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "If by 'this' you mean the end of the world, then 'sad' is an extreme understatement. If by 'this' you mean the end of our journey, then I'm not sure what you mean."

"Through this whole trip down the tunnel, I couldn't help thinking about Kate."

"What's so bad about that?"

He paused for a moment. "I would have never met her had this never happened."

"I know," I told him. "The same is with me and Amanda."

It was quiet again. I wished I could give him some advice, but my mind was preoccupied by the memories of Amanda which already seemed so distant. It remained quiet until we could hear the clang of foot against metal as Kate returned. She climbed down slowly, and she wiped her hands on her pants when she got to the bottom.

"Let's get out of here," she said with a smile.

I stood up, and we helped Travis to his feet. Kate went up the ladder first. Travis was holding himself up with the rails. I lifted him up as Kate pulled at his hands for the first few rungs. I eventually had enough room to get under him. I had Travis sit on my shoulder as I climbed slowly and carefully towards the top. Kate was helping lead the way.

We managed to get into the small room at the top after a long while. Travis rested for a moment before finally peeking out for the first time into the city. He smiled and simply nodded. I decided that I would lead the way this time. I took an extra second to make sure I had everything.

I lifted the manhole cover up and off, letting much light into the room. I put my weapons out onto the street first. I hoisted myself out of the hole, and I got to my feet. The clean air felt nice. After these weeks with no pollution, everything felt clean.

I turned back to the hole and took Travis by the hand. I pulled him up as Kate pushed from underneath. I pulled Kate out next. All of us took in the fresh air at once. I grabbed up my guns, and suddenly began to feel dizzy. I assumed that it was from the bump on my head. I just shook it off and ignored it.

Kate helped me get Travis to his feet again. We began our final journey forwards. Our finish line was the hospital. There was not a body in sight, or at least none moving. Corpses lined the streets. I didn't know whether or not they were zombies that had already been killed or just the lucky humans that managed to die before they became infected.

We moved in silence. The only sound that could be heard was that of our feet coming against the pavement. We searched in all directions, cautious of any zombies that might have been left behind. In the process, the hospital ahead began to come closer and closer.

I didn't feel like I was walking anymore. I felt as if we were standing on a moving walkway that was taking us along for the ride. I still couldn't believe that we were almost done. My mind wandered off to imagine what life would be like after this.

"Alright," Travis whispered. I didn't expect any noise, and it made me jump a little. "We're here."

We all stood and looked at the emergency room doors leading into the hospital right ahead of us. Travis put all his weight towards Kate, and I held my rifle in position. I was going in first.

I put my hand on the bar of the door. Before I pulled it open, I remembered my last visit to the hospital. My brother and I were in a car accident. He was driving, and I had fallen asleep. He had leaned over to mess with me, and he didn't realize the car swerved slowly into oncoming traffic. He never saw the van coming. I was the only survivor of the whole accident. My brother, as well as the elderly couple in the van, had died. I shook my head and pulled open the door.

The place was silent. A hospital is never supposed to be dead silent, but today was another first for us it seemed. I moved slowly inside with the rifle set so I could fire it if I needed to. I didn't focus on anything specific. I kept my eyes steady for any type of movement. I was ready for any type of surprise that might occur.

The zombies had definitely been here. I could tell there had been a fight. Bodies lining the floor didn't surprise me. What changed was that some of these had instruments stuck into their bodies. There was an obvious struggle. The walls were scratched and dented. Some doors had slight bends to them. What intrigued me the most was bullet holes in the wall.

I walked up to a bullet mark. I looked through it and saw into the next room. The bullet must have implanted into a wall of the next room. Through the hole I saw a man in a doctor's uniform barely on a table. He had wounds in his arms. It looked as if he had slashed his wrists.

I turned back to finish my search. I could hear the door behind me open. Travis and Kate climbed in and let the door slam loudly behind them. After a few moments of silence, I figured that we were safe. Any nearby zombie would have heard the door slam. I lowered the rifle and began to browse around.

"Where would a radio be?" Kate asked.

"I don't know exactly," I answered.

Travis grunted before he spoke. "I'd imagine that a 911 operator would radio over. Maybe we should check near a bunch of phones."

The plan seemed to be flawed, but it was the only thing we had to go on. I led the way down each hall to make sure they were clear.

"Wait!" called Travis. I turned around to face him. "Let's check this to see if it helps." He moved unsteadily towards a wall to examine a map of a fire escape procedure. I looked around near me as Travis checked the wall. I saw a handheld radio on a counter. I walked over and grabbed it. It was one of those limited range radios that looked as if it only went to one other radio.

"What's that?" Kate asked. I handed it to her and started looking for the other. "A walky-talky?" she questioned. I rummaged around the counter searching for the other. I knocked papers and folders over the floor. I couldn't find it at first. I kicked the garbage bin at the end of the counter in anger, and I spotted the radio which had fallen behind it. I snatched it up and turned back to Kate. Travis had come back.

"Let's split up," I suggested. "I'll keep looking for a radio. You and Kate go find some supplies to help you with your legs." I told Travis. He looked to Kate and they nodded together.

"There's an emergency room just down the hall," he informed me. "We'll be in there if you need us."

I waved the handheld. "Keep yours on."

Kate nodded and the two moved out of sight. I continued my journey alone. I held the rifle close to my chest, and I attached the radio to my waist. I had to step over bodies every once in awhile. Overturned carts became obstacles in my path. I was moving slowly. I didn't need to rush anywhere, especially if I didn't know where I was going.

I turned down a hallway and found myself in what looked like it used to be a waiting area. A vending machine was lying facedown. Chairs had been thrown around. A plant had been knocked over, leaving a small pile of dirt. Windows had been broken inward. Glass covered parts of the floor.

As I moved forward, I remembered when I had to sit and wait. People were rushing back and forth, taking care of many patients, and all I wanted to know is if my brother was going to be alright. I could remember stretchers being pulled quickly past. They led my sight down the hallway to where a doctor with a clipboard walked slowly towards me.

I shook my head from the memory. I continued to move along slowly. I stepped over the fallen machines. The glass cracked under my feet as I stepped on it. I could see bathrooms at the end of the hall, and a few doors that didn't seem to lead anywhere lined the sides. I turned down the next hallway.

This was a short hallway. Heavy steel double doors marked a dead end. There were no windows on the walls. The doors didn't seem as if they led out anywhere. No light escaped through the gaps. I figured that everything suspicious is worth looking at. I grabbed a handle and pulled the door wide open.

The creak echoed off the cement walls on the other side of the heavy doors. I was staring into a parking garage. the only vehicle I saw was an ambulance. I looked left and right quickly, but nothing else seemed important.

I was just about to leave when a memory struck me. While I was in the ambulance with my brother, the driver kept receiving directions. I remember he was using a radio. The radio was inside that ambulance. It had to be.

I moved slowly towards it. I noticed that dried handprints had been stained to the sides and back. They were made with blood. I saw dents on the front bumper. I figured it must have had to hit a couple people to get here. A headlight was broken, and the wheels looked very dirty. I moved towards the driver's side door. There was a dent in the center of it as well as more dried blood. I reached for the door handle.

There was a continuous beeping sound as I opened the door. It surprised me at first. I climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door. I leaned my head back as the sound stopped. The seat was very comfortable to me. I almost felt like sleeping, but I had to stay awake. I had to use the radio.

I searched around me briefly. The keys were in the ignition, but they were turned all the way. The ambulance had been left running since the start of the attacks, but it had run out of gas by now. There were several switches on the dash board. Some were labeled as the sirens, and others had numbers and letters I didn't understand.

I spotted a small black CB radio in the middle of the ambulance. I reached for the radio. It didn't look like it was on. I checked the box and pressed a button. A green light turned on, and I could hear a light static. I pressed the button on the handheld part of the radio to speak.

"Is anybody out there?" I asked loudly. I covered my ears as I could hear my voice bounce off the cement walls of the garage. I heard myself over and over. The radio was on some sort of megaphone setting. I shook my head trying to get the ringing out.

"_What the hell was that?"_ I heard Travis say. I grabbed the radio from my waist. I pressed the button to talk into it.

"You heard that?" I asked.

"_The whole damn city heard that!" _he exclaimed through the other end.

"Sorry," I said. "I found a radio. I'm just trying to figure out how to use it."

"_Well keep trying," _he told me.

I put the small radio on the passenger seat. I turned my attention back to the CB radio. I leaned down to look at all the switches and knobs. Many were for different channels. I saw a switch labeled 'All channels'. I flipped it on. The static volume coming through seemed to increase in a volume a little. I pressed the button on the side again.

"Hello?" I asked quietly, testing to make sure I didn't make myself deaf. "Is anyone out there?" I asked a little louder. I released the button to wait for a response. A few minutes passed by. The only answer I had received was static. After another few seconds I tried again. "Hello? If anybody is alive please listen. We're in the hospital. There are three survivors here including myself. One of them is severely wounded. We need help!" There was still no answer. I hung the radio back on its original spot.

I grabbed up the handheld from the seat next to me. "No luck here." I reported. "How's it going on your end?"

"_We found a huge binder full of medical information," _Travis answered. _"Did you know I was only a step away from needing my leg amputated?"_

I laughed. "No. Sounds like you're doing alright then?"

"_Yah. It seems Kate can understand this stuff a lot better than I can. I feel like I'm getting a physical."_

"Yah I bet. I'm just going to try again in a few minutes."

"_10-4,"_ Travis answered with a fake accent.

"Whatever." I tossed the handheld back into the passenger seat. I leaned my head back against the head rest and sighed. I just relaxed in the seat and fell into a deep sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Author's Note: Hey everybody. I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update at the end here, but I finally got a lot of free time and I'm dedicating mostly all of it to finishing up this story. I went back and fixed the typos on all the previous chapters becuase they were all done on a computer without spellcheck. Chapter 23 is also finished, but I'm going to wait a day or two before posting it up. The final chapter is also in the works right now. Thanks for all the comments you've left. It definately helps my inspiration when I know that somebody actually likes what I'm doing. Thanks again and enjoy!

Chapter 22

_I heard and unfamiliar noise. I tried to find it, but it always seemed as if the noise was miles away. It sounded as if it were a roaring of some sort. I don't know what, but something compelled me to keep searching I was moving past large skyscrapers in the process. The streets were just as empty as before, but this noise was new to me. Suddenly I became very hungry. The roaring grew louder, but my sense of smell was going insane. I smelt food. This wasn't just a little bit of food. This smelled like an entire feast just for me. I moved a little farther and turned a corner._

_There in front of me were hundreds, if not thousands of people. They lined the streets as if to welcome me. My eyes went wide. This was a celebration. The people were cheering and throwing confetti. Balloons soared through the air. This was a parade. The people were celebrating their survival. They had lived through the zombie apocalypse. They believed it was over. The end, in reality, was still very far off. I moved forward towards the crowd of people. None of them noticed me. This truly was a feast for me. They were like pigs to the slaughter._

The crack of glass made me jump. I woke up very confused. I didn't realize where I was. I must have fallen asleep in the ambulance. I shook my head to try to regain my sense. I didn't notice at first, but someone was screaming.

I looked up. The windshield of the ambulance had been cracked. There was a brick n the hood. I didn't know where it had come from. I was still groggy and a little confused. That windshield didn't have a crack in it when I went to sleep. I leaned my head back against the seat. My eyes wandered up towards the rearview mirror.

I sat up quickly. Through the mirror, facing the entrance into the garage, a large crowd of zombies had formed. They weren't moving at first. They all seemed to just stand in place. I was frozen. I didn't dare move.

Another brick hit the windshield. I jumped and looked towards the heavy double doors leading into the hospital. Kate was standing just inside the doorway, out of sight from the zombies, and she was waving at me. She wanted me to get up and run.

The zombies still didn't move. My hand went slowly toward the door handle. I had my gun ready, but there were too many of them for me to take them on. I took a deep breath. I pushed the door open quickly and jumped out of the ambulance. I sprinted towards Kate. On the way, I heard the screams and cries of the zombies not far behind. I reached Kate and slammed the doors behind me.

I rested against the doors. "Holy shit," I said between deep breaths. "How did they find us?"

"I think from that loud broadcast that you shouted out earlier," called Travis from around a corner. "Otherwise I have no idea."

"We're done for!" cried Kate, giving up hope.

I shook my head. I couldn't believe I lead them back to us. "No. We just have to get higher. We have to lose them now while they can't see us. Let's go!"

I ran ahead. When I turned the corner I saw Travis sitting in a wheelchair with his back to me, ready to get moving fast. I grabbed the handles and began to push him. Kate followed closely behind. I had to find a new path. I knew the wheelchair wouldn't make it over the destroyed waiting room.

"This way!" called Kate. She ran ahead of me to lead. She put her shoulder into a door and it flew open easily. I wheeled Travis into a room which looked as if it held a large filing system. As I entered into the room, I heard the large double doors leading into the building. Kate slammed the door of the room we were in, and then she moved to the other end. She tried one door, but it was a storage room. The next door she opened lead to a new hallway.

"Hurry it up!" called Travis as he was watching behind me. I turned to see the zombies already at the door Kate slammed. I pushed Travis into the hallway and began to lead him forward as fast as I could.

We snaked around another corner and through a few more rooms until we hit another problem. The ceiling had collapsed sometime and the floor was littered with large piles of bundled up cables and shattered lights. The wheelchair would never make it through in time. I grabbed Travis by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Kate got on this other side and we acted as crutches. We bent through the hanging cables and crushed the broken glass even further under our feet.

I didn't want to look back after we had made it through, but the screeches sounded right behind us. I turned my head to look. The zombies were getting tangled in the cables. Any that were barefoot were cutting their feet open on the broken glass. Patches of old, dried blood were covered with a fresh coat. It must have made the floor a bit slick because several zombies fell over.

We had to keep moving. _Faster,_ I told myself. It was the only way to escape them. Corridor after corridor we had to move through. It started to seem like we were simply running in circles. We were only tiring ourselves out. I knew what we had to do, but I didn't want to be the one to say it.

"We have to move upstairs," Kate suggested. "They have trouble with stairs."

"Well lucky day," joked Travis. "So do I."

I sighed but sided with Kate. "We have to do it."

The stairs weren't far, but with the adrenaline flowing, it felt like they were hours away. The zombies weren't the only ones who had trouble with the stairs. Travis was right. He moved almost slower than they did, even with Kate and me helping him. He couldn't help it, though. If one leg began to hurt, he'd have to shift his weight to his other leg, but this would only make that leg hurt three times worse. Kate and I tried to carry him the best we could, but the days spent inside the theater with no real food made us weak.

When we got to the second floor, we all had to stop to take a breath. I had my hands on my knees and was taking big gulps of air. Kate was leaning against a nearby wall. Travis looked back and forth between us. He shook his head slowly before walking to Kate. He placed a hand on her waist and pulled her towards him. He whispered something into her ear, and they kissed deeply. She began to weep as he turned to me. I was still bent over. He placed a hand on my back.

"Goodbye," he simply stated. My eyes shot open, and I stood straight up. I knew what he meant. He stood at the top step of the stairs with a pistol in each hand. Kate and I stared as he slowly began moving down the steps. He was descending into a hell to save us. The zombies began to climb, and they froze momentarily as they saw him.

"Com on," Kate ordered through tears. I didn't notice she had moved. She took my hand and tried to pull me away. I kept my eyes focused on Travis. He had taken aim. Kate kept pulling me, and eventually I moved. As soon as Travis was out of sight, the gunfire began. Kate and I were moving up another set of stairs silently. I imagined Travis killing each and every zombie in the hospital as if he were some action hero in a movie. This wishful dream was ended shortly. Travis began to yell in rage, and it was silent again after one last gunshot.

Kate and I froze, but only for a moment. We looked at each other slowly then began to climb the stairs further. Nothing needed to be said. It was all coming to and end. When we reached the third floor, we paused again. "What did he say to you?" I asked while trying to get back my energy.

She was quiet for a moment. "He said he was slowing us down. He told me he wanted to live, but it was time to slow down the zombies instead of us."

"He saved our lives," I told her.

"And then he said he loved me."

We were quiet again. Without speaking we climbed the next set of stairs slowly. We didn't hear the zombies as loud as before, but they were getting closer. We stopped again at the fourth floor. I noticed a fire evacuation map on the wall. There were six floors to this hospital. So far they all looked the same as the one below it.

We moved again. We made it to the fifth floor. When we stopped, I looked around. This floor was different. The previous floors had been one long, narrow hallway. This floor had three separate halls. One went straight ahead while the two others shot to the left and right. The stairs to the sixth floor were blocked. There was some sort of barricade put up. Someone tried to fight back. It didn't look like they made it.

Kate and I walked forward a bit. We stood at the crossroad of the hallways. Each looked the same to us. There really was no visible difference between them. There were no signed of labeling in the halls. Each one ended with a set of swinging doors. Kate leaned against a nearby wall with a hand over her head. Neither one of us had an idea of what to do.

We didn't have time to think of a plan. A loud screech made both of us turn to face the stairs. The zombies were back. Several were coated in fresh blood. It looked like Travis gave them a good standoff. I backed up slowly and put an arm in front of Kate to push her back as well. Nobody moved for what seemed like hours. Finally a zombie took a step forward.

"Follow me!" Kate and I said at the same time. We both ran in different directions as the zombies surged up the stairs. Kate ran down the left hallway as I ran down the right. Neither one of us noticed at first. By the time I had thrown my shoulder into one of the swinging doors, it was too late to turn back for her anyways. "Kate!" I called out as I stumbled into the new hallway.

I slipped as I came through the doors. I fall to my knees and rolled a short ways. I slid into some sort of cart and knocked it over. Bandages and boxes of medical supplies rained on me. I stood up quickly and shook off everything. As I started running I noticed that it was unusually quiet. I slowed down my pace and eventually stopped moving. The zombies didn't follow me. They must have all gone after Kate. There was nothing I could do for her.

I wandered the halls quietly. The place looked like some sort of burn ward. There were large trays full of ointment, although many had been knocked to the floor. These walls and floors had the same characteristics as the ground floor. The walls were painted in pale colors with a coat of blood above it. Bullet holes were in the walls randomly. As I continued to look, I noticed that, strangely, there were no bodies.

There was a door nearby. I checked it, but it was locked. I guessed that all the rooms were kept locked, or that somebody had locked themselves in. Part of me just didn't want to know. I kept moving along. I couldn't believe how silent it was. Perhaps this area was made to absorb sounds. The screams of burn victims could torture your soul.

For a long while, I forgot the rest of the world. It had been weeks since I've heard a silence such as that in the burn ward. In that moment I was alone in the world. I could do whatever I wanted, and nobody could stop me. I could set the world aflame and not have to worry about anyone's death except my own. This was nothing like when I had come with my brother. This world was mine.

I leaned against a nearby wall and slid down till I was sitting. I had to plan what I was going to do next. I couldn't let myself think about the past or else I would never make progress on where I wanted to get to. I needed to think ahead. If I went back, my mind would get tangled in the events of the past few days. As I tried to not think about the past, I also realized that I was struggling to stay awake. I had not slept for very long inside that ambulance, and without any food I had no energy left. I leaned my head back, telling myself that I was only resting.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

_The parade was a tornado of sights and sounds, and I was in the middle of it all. I moved on slowly. There were so many innocent people. I had no idea who to attack first. All kinds of people were cheering: Old people, young people, men, women, rich, poor. They all stood watching the parade move down the street. They were all unaware that the end was far from over. If anything, the beginning had never even arrived yet. I was still alive. All these people were soon about to be the opposite of that. I pushed forward towards the main attraction._

_I moved past little floats and clowns. I moved in the opposite direction of the parade. They very first thing to pass was a banner that read 'A Celebration on Life: Apocalypse Survivors.' Small, boring floats led the way. I kept moving against the flow to what seemed like the popular attraction. The parade stopped. Sirens sounded. Soldiers marched onto the street towards me. I held my ground as they circled around me. The soldiers all dropped to a knee and aimed their weapons. Some people in the crowd realized what was happening, but did not move. They wanted to witness this. They wanted to see my execution. I brought the streets to a dead silence as I screeched out loudly._

I stood up after an uncomfortable rest in the hallway. My back was aching, and my head was throbbing. I felt a cool breeze brush across my face, and I smiled. I stood up and stretched. Looking out the window at the end of the hall, I could see it was a beautiful day out. I started walking towards the window when I noticed that it had been broken. There was no glass on the floor, so I peered out. A face was looking back at me. It was attached to a twisted body lying on its back.

I shook my head. My short paradise was ended by the grim realization that I was still in trouble. I closed my eyes, but I could still see the face in my mind. I tried to look away, but there was another body. Glass was littered upon it. I gazed further down alongside the hospital. Many windows were broken, and all contained a body on the earth below it. The reality was making me remember why I was at this hospital in the first place. I was here for survival.

I turned around. I had reached the end of the line, and the only place to go was either out the window or back the way I came. There was no way I could go out without a fight, but there was no way I would allow myself to become one of the living dead. I was going back. I would fight to the very end.

I pulled out my pistol. This was the tool I used to make sure that the dead would stay dead. I released the magazine and counted my shots. There were ten bullets in the clip, plus one in the chamber. I popped out one bullet before putting the magazine back into the gun. I held the bullet up in front of me.

"This one is for me," I told myself. I put the bullet into my pocket. I decided that enough was enough. I couldn't keep running like this. The silence started to bug me. "This is it," I announced to the walls. "This is the last showdown for me. I won't be able to kill them all, but I'll get enough for now."

I walked back towards the stairs. I took my time in the halls. No use walking into something unexpected. I passed by familiar scenes backwards. It was like life was in rewind. I was going back to the action scene, and I'd see Kate in just a few seconds. I passed by the knocked over cart and stood facing the double doors to the stairs. I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Silence. No zombies were around. They must have all followed Kate into the hallway she went down. I stepped into the middle of the hallway again. I could easily sneak down the stairs to get away, or I could explore the hall nobody went down. I stepped forward to Kate's hallway. Hers had the swinging doors like mine. I stepped right in front of the door, and a rage took over me. I kicked forward as hard as I could, and the door slammed open in front of me.

I knew I made the wrong choice as the door opened. On the other side of the doors were zombies. They had been wandering aimlessly for awhile, but the sound of the door slamming made them all turn. I was staring at the faces of the dead. Their eyes were wide with wonder like some sort of animal.

"Fuck," I muttered. I turned to run quickly. I heard a loud hiss behind, followed by a stampede of footsteps. I ran towards the unexplored hallway, taking a gamble and hoping there was a way out. I didn't see any doors, so I continued to run. At the end of the hall I turned a corner to see offices. A long hallway was in front of me with many doors. They all had a name written on the glass along with whatever specialty they practiced.

I moved forward quickly with the zombies close behind. I turned and fired two shots. One zombie fell as blood exploded onto other zombies. The second shot only hit one in the shoulder. I kept moving towards the offices. I tried a door. It was locked. I tried the one across from it. It was locked also. I fired three more shots. One missed. One zombie fell. Another zombie fell right after.

I moved further. I got to the next set of doors. Locked. The other? Locked. I ran further. I fired blindly behind me once. I didn't care what I hit. I got to the next doors. Locked. Locked. _Keep moving,_ I told myself. It was turning into an endless cruel joke. As I moved further and further down the hall, I noticed that there were no more hallways. There was a window leading outside and a few more doors until I reached that point, but there was nowhere else to turn.

The second to last set of doors were within reach. The first door was locked. I reached for the second door handle. I turned it and the door flew open. I nearly tripped as I went inside, not suspecting the door to open. Once inside I slammed the door shut and locked it. I took a moment to catch my breath as bodies slammed against the door.

I examined the room. There was a desk near one wall. It was littered with everything usual. There was a black filing cabinet in the corner. Two large lockers without locks on them were against a wall with a very small window. I wouldn't be able to fit through the window. I also knew that I only had four shots left. I moved towards the door.

I drew the blinds. I was nose to nose with a zombie pressing against the glass. I could see about twelve behind it, but there were many, many more out of sight. I was staring straight into the zombies' eyes. They were dead. Those eyes did not belong to that creature. They belonged to a corpse that should be in a coffin at a funeral with family standing around in mourning, but instead the eyes were under the control of a monster. It wasn't right.

I drew my pistol. I pressed the barrel against the glass right at the zombie's forehead. It showed no fear even though its death was moments away. It did not back away or could comprehend the situation. It kept trying to bite through the glass. I shook my head and pulled the trigger. Glass shattered loudly as the bullet tore through it. The bullet entered the head of the zombie I was aiming at. I stepped back as the body hung over the door where the window used to be. Now they were trying to push themselves in.

One climbed over its dead friend and fell to my feet. I put a shot into the back of its head like an execution. Two more climbed in and fell to my feet. I stomped on the head of the first, and kicked the second one as hard as I could. I grabbed a pen from the desk and stabbed it into the head of the next zombie to fall through.

I stepped back to raise the pistol. A zombie was trying to climb through the window, but a bullet through the brain stopped it. I fired the last shot into a random zombie still outside the office. I tucked the gun away. There was nothing to do now. I backed up as more and more poured in. There was too many for me to handle. I kept backing up until I bumped into a locker.

The locker had no lock, I remembered. I turned and opened it quickly. I stepped inside. It was big enough to stand in, but I couldn't see after the door closed behind me. I moved around and bumped my head on the shelf above me. Small items rattled around. Something fell and stabbed into my hand. I cried out in pain as I could feel it sticking out. I hit my head again and heard more things rattle above me.

I reached down to the object sticking into my hand. It felt like a pen, but it was definitely made of metal, and it was heavier than a normal pen. I pulled it out and grunted in pain through the process. I held it up to the light shining in through the slits of the locker door. The pen had a sharp end on it. It then occurred to me that this pen was really a scalpel.

I looked out through the slits in the locker. Zombies had filled the small office room. There was no way out for me. I was trapped. A zombie moved its face in front of mine, blocking my only view out. I took the scalpel and stabbed out through the opening. The tool stabbed into the creature's head above the eye. I withdrew the tiny weapon, and the creature fell to the floor.

I sighed as I peered out at the same sight over and over. To pass the time, I searched around the locker. There was a jacket. I could feel a nametag hanging from it. There were pens or pencils in the outside pocket. It was too dark to tell what anything was specifically. Also in the jacket was some sort of energy bar. I felt a wrapper in the inside pocket. The top shelf contained a pair of glasses, more pens, and some papers. There was nothing too interesting.

There was nothing for me to do. I stared out into the office populated with the living dead. The office itself was a nice little room. There was a window, but from where I was, I couldn't see out of it. The desk was very neat. Papers were few, and they were not scattered about. The only real mess was a pen holder that had fallen over when I grabbed for one. There was a picture frame, but I couldn't see the picture in it. I assumed it was a family picture.

My eyes wandered to other parts of the room. There was a plant in the corner that was withered and slowly dying. The walls contained framed certificates of achievements. Below these were filing cabinets filled with what I thought was boring medical information. The only other things inside the office were the corpses walking about inside the room and me. I started to watch them.

The zombies really looked human still. Apart from the eyes, which seemed like the only things to stay dead on a zombie, they still looked like me. Granted, some had large open wounds and bite marks, but they wore clothing, walked on two legs, and were made from flesh and bone. They didn't seem to be aware of the other zombies around them. They all wandered in packs, but it was almost as if they all thought they worked alone. I shook my head at the idea. These things don't think anything. They just do what they do.

One of the zombies was a little girl. I wondered what had happened to her in this past month. Maybe she was at a playground with some friends. She might have been sitting on a swing or bench when one of them attacked her. I didn't see any bite marks on her neck, so that was probably not what happened. I noticed that she was bleeding from the back of her leg. Perhaps they attacked her when she was hanging from the monkey bars. Either way, they still got her.

That's all I had to do to pass the time. I guessed what might have happened to all these people. Perhaps the old man with bite marks on his arm was trying to fight back. Two teenage zombies may have been out on a romantic date before being attacked. A police officer may have been protecting a large group of people, but he had been overrun. Maybe a few of his friends turned on him. Maybe he turned on them.

I couldn't tell what time it was, but it seemed like days were passing by when in reality it was probably only hours. It turned from light to dark, and every zombie in the room had a background story that I created for them. I leaned my head back, ignoring the crashing sounds coming from the hallway. The hissing and the sounds of bodies falling over entered the air. I closed my eyes and just tried to fall asleep. I didn't have any plans. Maybe tomorrow would make me more creative.


	24. The Final Chapter

Final Chapter

A truck filled with tired, worn men bumped along a nameless road into the night. Each man carried a large rifle of some sort. They were unshaven and unclean. They were scarred and angry. The majority of the men were staring at Mike. A rock from the truck made him open his eyes slowly. He looked around at all the faces he had grown to know in the past few weeks. They all looked the same to him, and he looked like all of them.

His eyes drifted down to the floor of the truck, and the men who were watching him earlier continued to hold their gaze. Some looked to others, and a few shrugged. Several shook their heads, but only one of them spoke up. The youngest looking of the pack, finding no answer from the group leaned forward. "So what happened after that?" he asked.

Without looked up, Mike continued with a sigh. "After God knows how long, you guys showed up. I guess we all know the rest after that." The men nodded. Each had a vision of guts and bloody fragments filling that hospital. Each man had a different memory of the rescue attempt. Each man wanted to forget it. Mike rested his head against his rifle and closed his eyes.

Mike sat in the truck quietly. Most of the men had already forgotten his story. Others, who had not experienced something as tragic as Mike, thought about it for a little while. This was how every story ended. For every mission, one of the men would tell the others what happened before he became a survivor. There was always a new story to hear. Some of the men who had been with the group longer have heard it all. Only two guys at that time had been rescued after Mike.

"Twenty minutes!" announced the driver. Some of the men looked over in acknowledgement. The rest were in their own little meditative state. Some were even asleep. Mike was replaying his story through his mind again. He remembered his family and friends. His dad, his brothers, JJ, Amanda, Travis, and Kate all came into his thoughts as his story progressed. They all faded as they died in the story as well.

It had been three months since Mike joined up with the rescue team. He joined within two weeks of being saved himself. The team picked up his radio transmission. They spent a week gathering supplies before coming out to help. It was as fast as they could move. On the usual rescue mission, the team would drive headfirst into a large swarm of zombies because they knew that every minute was precious. The mission was the same each time: Come home with more humans than you left with. Sometimes the missions were successful. Other times, both sides suffered severe losses.

When Mike was rescued, he was put under the supervision of a mediocre medical team. They tried to answer all his questions as they gave him treatment. They didn't know where the zombies came from. They weren't sure where the mutations came from. They didn't have any communication with any other survival groups. The status of the President, Vice-President, or any other governmental personnel was unknown. There was no leader at the time. All decisions were made as an entire group. They didn't know if any other country was affected by this apocalypse.

They used an old apartment building as a headquarters. Guards were set up on the ground floor. Very heavy barricades were built on every floor. In case they were being overrun, the humans would move up a level and keep fighting. The group tried to remain as ready as possible in case something was to go wrong. They were determined to win this war.

This survival team acted almost like a terrorist organization. The only difference is that instead of trying to put fear into humans, they attacked those which used to be human. Other than that, many other factors were the same. They attacked public places. They tried to remain unseen by the majority of the world, and at the time, the majority was zombies. They were not funded sufficiently.

Life was different for the survivors. They all suffered psychological harm. Mike was not the only one to have dreams as he did. Some even had dreams much worse. They believed so much that they actually were becoming a zombie that they went around biting others in the camp. Aside from psychological harm, many men were constantly wounded from trying to escape being cornered on a mission. Others were just trying to recover from lack of essential nutrition.

The majority of the survivors were women. Usually a group started out evenly between genders, but in many cases the men would put themselves in harm's way to save the women. Children were also protected more during the initial outbreaks, but before a survival group was established, many children had starved to death waiting for rescue.

The camp was located somewhere outside of Chicago. Originally it was inside the city, but it turned out to be an urban death trap. Some of the buildings had been damaged by fire during the opening attacks, rendering them useless as safe areas. Cars were flipped in the streets, and huge city buses blocked entire intersections. The city turned out to be one big, unstable maze. Outside of Chicago the survivors were able to see long distances without large buildings blocking the view.

The entire landscape had been changed. Inside the US it seemed as if three separate countries moved about freely. There were humans, zombies, and large, vast spaces of nothing in between. The zombies didn't hunt for flesh. They only went after it if they could sense that it was somewhere near. After a large group of zombies had attacked a location and killed everyone inside, they would simply stay in place. The vast amounts of nothing were severely damaged by air raids. The air raids had stopped flying about a month after Mike was rescued. Nobody knew where they were coming from, but everyone at the base camo had a good idea of why they might have stopped.

The number of survivors when Mike had been saved was about a thousand. Since he has joined, around fifty people had been found, although handfuls of people were lost as well. Each person had a story similar to Mike. They all lost close friends and family members. They all sacrificed everything they had unwillingly. Every story had a slight variation to it, but there were no stories that stood out to be more horrible than the others. All the survivors seemed to agree silently that everyone suffered the same.

As for Mike, he went on rescue missions frequently after joining the team, but missions had started to become less and less frequent. As each day passes, the possibility that anyone left alive fades away. The mission where he told his story on the journey was actually a return trip to the hospital. He wanted to know what happened to Kate.

"What are you hoping to find here?" asked one of the men when the hospital came into view.

Mike thought for a moment. He could have told the men that he was looking for supplies and equipment for the sub par medical examiners at the camp to use. He thought about telling them to check for any vehicles that still held gas in them, or to search for groceries to bring back food for the other survivors. "An ending," he replied. "My story isn't done yet."

The rest of the trip was in silence. There were about a dozen men two split into two teams when the truck stopped outside the hospital. One team searched the city around the hospital for anything useful to bring back. The other team, with Mike, went into the hospital. They entered through the garage.

As Mike stepped forward, he recognized the ambulance where he had made the radio call. He walked up to it and saw the broken windshield. The two bricks were still on the hood. Two of the men searched the vehicle for any useful supplies while Mike moved on with three men. They entered the hospital through the heavy double doors that had been broken in. The two men searching the ambulance followed shortly, and they began to look for medical books to take back to the doctors at the base.

Mike's small team moved through the halls. After three months Mike could still remember the path he took with Kate and Travis. He followed the trail of destruction once more and began to grow nervous from the memories. Broken windows, smashed doors, and the room with the collapsed ceiling passed by. They reached the staircase, and Mike was staring up them towards the turn at the middle. He knew what was ahead. They moved upwards slowly, and they were on guard for any surprise attacks.

When they reached the turn leading to the second floor, a body was spotted. It looked like the body of a zombie. Mike continued forward until he could see the entire staircase. There was a large circle of dead bodies. Right in the middle of them was Travis. He was decomposing, but he was still recognizable. Mike moved right next to Travis and moved some of the bodies away from him. He knelt down next to him and smiled.

"You saved my life," Mike told him. He looked at his arms and saw that Travis had many bite marks on his arms. "You probably waited until the last minute to finish yourself off. I know you loved Kate enough to give her all the time that you could. I'm sorry I couldn't help you out better, but it looks like if you had enough ammo, you would have gotten them all." Mike laughed a little. He placed a hand on Travis's shoulder. "I'll see you soon."

Mike stood and continued up the stairs with the small team behind him. As he moved along, he thought about how they would have to burn this building down. It was the only way to get rid of all the bodies. He would have to go back to the gas station and the theater. For now, however, he had to keep moving. He moved all the way to the fifth floor and stopped.

Two of the men with Mike decided to dig their way onto the sixth floor. They started tearing down the barricade as Mike moved forward with the last team member. They moved into the middle of the hall where Mike last saw Kate alive. He knew what was ahead, and he was told that all the zombies that had followed him were killed in the rescue attempt. Mike moved towards the hall that Kate went down. He pushed the door open slightly and looked inside.

Zombies were still walking around. Mike guessed that not all the zombies had followed him when he kicked the door. The team member with Mike looked inside and shook his head. There were not a whole lot, but even one was a danger. Mike and his teammate moved inside quietly when they thought it was safe. They hid behind a desk. The room they were in was a place for children. It seemed to be like a daycare or somewhere that parents could take their children when a loved one was in the hospital. There were giant blocks and tunnels that the children could play with. There were things they could crawl in and climb on. It was all very brightly colored.

Mike looked to his partner, and before they counted to three to attack, gunfire erupted upstairs. It seemed that the other team had found a different kind of survivor. The zombies in the room with Mike all headed for the noise. They hadn't feasted on flesh in months. As most in the room were heading out, Mike popped up and started to open fire. His partner was a split second behind. They let out an unstoppable stream of ammunition that seemed to just drop the zombies without even trying. Mike ran out of ammo soon, but he pulled out his pistol when there was only about five left. His partner took out two of them before running out of ammo himself. Mike took aim before firing, not wasting more ammo than necessary at this point. He got two, and his partner dropped the last one.

The room was filled with the smell of sulfur. It was a scent which Mike had grown to love. The gunfire upstairs stopped soon afterwards, and Mike stepped forward. There were not many places Kate could have gone in here. He searched all over, but she was nowhere to be found. He looked outside the window to see if she had jumped, but she hadn't. She was not in the bathroom or in the tunnels. Mike sat down on a bench and thought for a moment. He lowered his head into his hands, and through his fingers he saw her. Kate was dead on the floor looking back at him. She was one of the zombies that Mike and his partner had just killed. There were several shots in her chest, but the one to the back of the head must have done it. There were bite marks all over her body. Her legs and arms were all chewed up, and she was even missing a finger. Mike shook his head and closed his eyes. He had the ending to his story.

Mike stood and left the hospital with his partner. Only one of the two men came back from upstairs. The other had been bit and killed himself. The three of them left with the two still at the ground floor. They met back at the truck with the rest of the team. Three men from the second team created a couple Molotov cocktails and threw them at the hospital. They all watched it burn for a little while before heading to the gas station. They dragged out the bodies of the zombies from there before burning them so not to blow up the whole city. After the gas station came the movie theater.

Mike was staring at the building from the outside. It was the first time he had gotten to actually look at it. The place used to be nice, but now it was heavily damaged by air raids. He could not see any zombies outside of the theater. He presumed that all of them must have followed Travis, Kate, and himself to the back door. The truck stopped in the parking lot, and all the men jumped out except for the driver. The men headed forward in a large group. Mike led the way since he was the only one familiar with the building. As they moved forward, Mike saw a body out of the corner of his eye: JJ. Mike just shook his head and kept walking forward.

He climbed over the car they had crashed through the front gates and stood in the lobby of the theater. There were no standing bodies around. The other men climbed in after Mike and started to form teams. The teams split up and headed to different parts of the theater. Mike wandered the lobby alone with one question on his mind: Where was Amanda's body? It was not in the lobby. Mike thought back to that day when she was captured. He remembered pulling out his pistol and shooing her. The bullet went through her eye. He knelt down in the spot that he last saw her standing. There was only one answer he could come up with: The bullet did not hit her brain.

Mike picked up a piece of broken glass that had been covered with blood. He tossed it aside and stood up. The other men returned to the lobby with confused expressions. They started to discredit Mike's story. The building contained absolutely no living zombies at all. There were bodies of those in the lobby. There were a few bodies in the halls, but none of the bodies was moving. Mike thought for a moment. "They must have chased after something else. It's the only possible explanation. There were thousands of these things here when I left!"

The men walked past Mike shaking their heads. They started to believe he was suffering mentally. Mike even had to question it. He remembered back to the night he imagined a helicopter flying overhead when really there was nothing. He walked outside the theater and stood bewildered in the parking lot. The other men had already started to light the building on fire. Mike walked back to the truck silently where the team was waiting. As he placed a hand on the truck, he heard a scream in the distance. The mission was far from over.


End file.
